Piedmontese Onions Done Right

 sometimes a recipe allows you a do over. That's what happened when the Piedmontese onion recpe turned out a disaster.Luckily it was amended and to delicious results.

I started out with a vegan version of my Nonna's and Mom's stuffing recipe.

I used a combo of Beyond Meat , breadcrumbs, some of the onions chopped  Vitalife mozzarella, cheese and Melt Butter.

This is BeyondMeat I used about half about ten ounces

A quarter cup of bread crumbs were added to this

Chopped onion and two tables spoons fo microwaved Melt were added to this to moisten it. I didn't have any Just Egg for binding but the Melt seemed to do the trick.

 The onions were were unstuffed and re cut to fit the stuffing Tge vegan mozzarella was also added to.

You can see it's bigger ,and more cone like to fit the stuffing.

They were then stuffed and microwaved for about six to seven minutes in the microwave

The end resukt was a much tastier version of what I had first made. I realzized II took the easy way out.

The filling was a mix of crunchy and tender while the onion was exquisitely tender.

Some recipes you can do over. This is the case with Piednmontese onions. They were perfect thanks to a more tradditional and classic recipe.

Remember Those WHo Labor

 Even though it's Labor Day in the Us, remember laborers around th eworld today They're the ones that help put food on our tables. A lot of American produce come fromt farms around the world. It's also good to remember those locally too.

This is the day to thank everyone involved in the food trade. Be sure to tip the waitstaff generously at any restaurant or cafe. They too aren't immune to the high cost of living. Also thank those local farmers and who provide us with seasonal fresh produce. Say a prayer for countries Mexican farmers who provide us with seventy-seven per cent of fruits and veggies. while their Canadian counterparts who give us eleven per cent, namely wheat from  the Midwest  Provinces Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. Also be civil to grocery store workers as well. They 're the ones that provide you with delcious baked good and peprare cold cuts for you as well as whole meals.

Enjoy the day before heading of to work or starting a brand new school year. Be kind and generous to all those responsible for putting food on your table.

LIttle Chefs Big Help

 The school year has or is just about t o start. While it's great to teach kids the language arts and STEM it is also good to teach them about humility and sharing.It makes for a better , more empathetic student.

What can kids do? Visit nursing homes and take part in food pantries. Some secular and religious schools do this, Kids can hang out and bring snacks like apple slices and carrot sticks to share with their elders.A fun idea is having students, whether, they're in kindergarten or high school also visit veteran homes.. Here they can listen to stories while sharing afternoon snacks. Inviting an elderly neighbor or veteran over to your house can also expand a child's experience.Ask your guest what they would like for dinner and dessert. Have your kids help in making both. Another idea is the kids helping yo create a meal or sweet for a shut in neightbor and go with you when you deliever the food. if you have older children then enlist them to go shopping for elderly neighbors and family memebers. It's a  great way of having them bond and learning about altruism.Older teens like sixteen and seventeen year olds can drive them to the sotres or even out to a restuarant for a saturdya or Sunday lunch.

Of course bake sales have always been a school staple. Kids should get involved in them as well. This is perfect for little bakers who love to create sweet treats.  Talk to their teachers to see if the class can "adopt" a charity in which they can fund raise. It could be an animal charity or for a family who is struggling. They can expand their repetoire by offering some savory treats as well. Think cheese or sausage breads or little pizzas that can be warmed in portable ovens. They could evne try their hands at such complicated recipes like croissant and brioche. The enire school can have a charity dinner or buffet with the proceeds go to a charity as well.  Middle school kids can help in cutting up veggies and measuring ingredients. The smaller ones can help in organizing the utensils, plates and napkins. Again kids of all ages can help in baking desserts like chocolate chip cookies and brownies.A great act f charity is also working at a food bank. Kids cna help in putting together packages for those in need. it teaches them not only about helping others but putting together nutritious ingredients for home cooked delicious meals.

Kids need to learn about empathy and kindness as much as they need to learn about the arts and sciences. emphasize the importance of giving to others by way of food.It'll make them more aware of the world aroudn them.

Stuffed Onions Gone Wrong

 One of the unofficial dishes of Piedmonte Italy is  stuffed onions,  every family has a recipe for cipolli or oignon ripienne , varying ingredients and spices. Are they hard to replicate ? yes and no.

I've been wanting to make these bt to be honest didn't have the recipe (I do now) I also wanted to skip the process of placing them in the oven. What I didn;t know was that theyhad to be boiled in a mix of vinegar water and salt for half an hour. I did choose the right onions though.

These were really perfect white onions bought form my local Acme. I followed air fryer fried onion recipes (big mistake)  which requires them with cut ends and a cored out middle. The two outer layers had to be removed as well.

This was impossible to do and there was also left over chopped onion which was cooked with extra Gardein meatballs 

I used only four of these as a filling.

The onions required a lot more coring to fit th e meat balls. Then it was onto putting them in the air fryer. I followed various  recipes for cooking times. and came up with eight minutes at 400 degrees Farenheit for th e first fry then another eight minutes at 370 degrees Farenheit for the second

  Thisis after the first cook.

                                                              Then the second.

As far as the flavor, the onion over powered them and the interior layers were not as cooked as I would have liked them .I prefered wihat I made with the extra meatballs and onions corings.

I just used two tablespoons of Melt plant butter and olive oil and sauteed and steamed them until the onions bits became translucent.

These were better than the stuffed onions

 These turned out perfect and I plan on makng these again with the addtion of chopped green peppers and tomatoes.

The next stuffed onion recipe will be the true Piedmonntese one. The air fryer ones just did  not come out right. I realzie classic recipes need classic cooking in order to be delicious.

Homemade Macarons? Yes Please!

 Macarons are on everyone's wish list. These delightful  little bites  are sweet and airy treats a taste of alomnd mixed with ganache ro buttercream. They're every sugar addicts dream. Unfortunately they can be expensive , costing two and sometimes three times more than the average cookie. Don;'t depair .Macarons can be made at home.

Famed pastry chef and regular contributor Claire Saffitz gave the recipe for chocolate ,pistacchio and raspberry ones in yesterday's new York Times food section.Many home bakers balk at the thought of making them. They can be tempermental at best and even some of the better bakeries have had trouble creating them. There are plusses in baking themat home. One they are very expensive, One cna cost as much as five dollars. You'll be saving a lot of money by creating your won. Also you have more control of the sugar added. Many bakers put in a bit too much sugar which can mask the other flavors.Another asset is that once mastered macarons can be made in a varirty of different flavors with different fillings. Home bakers can go wild with their own creations and have fun using different or unusual ingredients. You do have to be dedicated for baking them. Filled macarons are really a two day process. It stsrtd with almind meal flour, usually King Arthur's is the best choice. Then there are th e egg whites which can be subbed in with aquafaba for vegans and vegetarians,

There are excellent tips included too, The mernigue should be very firm which creates a stable base. Then you mix in your dry ingreidients like almond flour and the confectioners sugar in a folding mtion called macronage. This deflates the meringue which gives the batter a glossy lava liketexture. This will make it settle into flat smooth cirlces on the baking sheet. Keep in mind that if the batter is lumpy it,s been undermixed: if it's pancaking into thin  puddles its been overmixed. as for the flur use an extra fine almond variety.A coarseer grind can lead to cracked shells and oils from almond skins can weaken the meringue. Use gel food coloring. The liquid kind can lead to cracking. You have to have a pastry bag to pipe the shells on a silicon baking mat. The mats will stay perfectly flat resulting in rounder shells. DO NOT use parchment because it tends to wrinkled underneath the macarons, sightly distorting the circles. Let the rounds air until a skin forms on them, Unlike other baked good , macarons should be baked at a low oven 275 degrees Farenheit. This will maintain their round shape. Let them sit overnight before filling them with ganache or buttercream.

Merignues are such tasty treats that they're hard to resist. Make them at home with favorite flavors. They'll be at the ready to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Is Korean Cuisine The New french?

 For over eighty years French cuisine held court over new York fine dining. Now it's being challenged by a different kind of haute cuisine Korean. It combines the best of traditional Asian and European cooking and serving techniques

Regular contributor and famed restaurant critic Pete Wells explored this in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section. Fine dining may be dying down in other  big Americna cities however it's doing quite well in Manhattan. It's coming from a new breed of Korean restuarants where Korean -American chefs are cominging the best of their heritage with Gallic trchniques and practices. It  is topping a tradition that started with the famed Le Pavilion being transferred from the Queens 1939 world'd Fair to Manhattan.it lasted so long as to inspire other La and Le restuarantst to dot the city landscape. They brought Limoeges china, silver domes and white linen to the tables. These eateries are few and far between these days.It may give ideas of a higly contolled enviroment super attentive waitstaff and detail oriiented cooking. Mr. Wells suggests looking at it in a fresher way - as in a price bracket. The prices are high, beteeen 100 and 150 a person. These new Koren influenced ones appeal to a wide range of people, much like French cuisine. They also go beyond the restaurants seenn in middle class Korean enclaves like fort Lee New Jersey and Queens.

Of course there is also the halyu, the influx of Koren culture into America life . Arts, music and film can make a culture wanted accorodng to Jenny Kwak, chef and owner of Haenyeo ,a causal Koren restaurant with dishes starting at fortty two dollars." They demystify it," She can remember American chefs acknowledging Psy the singer behind 20212's popular song "Gangham style."  The pioneer to all of them ,Jungsik opened a year before his success.It features  expensive seafood dishes paired with top quality wines. Younger Korean chefs like Junghyun Park have opened up not one but two restaurants. He has  the vastly popular Atomix whuch strives for a modern vison of Korean cuisine and Naro, a more tradtional Korean menu. Another double restuarant owner, Hoyoung Kim has the popular Jua has a seven course tasting menu and Moono where a pot fo rice can cost as much as eigty-eight dollars. The most popular is Bom, where chef Brian Kim gives diner a totally immersive experience.It is expensive with meals starting at a whopping three hundred dollars.These restaurants do have French flourishes with caviar tarts and finishiung the meal with satiny chococlatr bonbons.

Fine dining is alive and well in New York City.I'ts not what most think.It has a decidedly Korean flavor to it.

Hold On To Summer

 It's still summer despite  people guzzling those pumpkin spice lattes and rifling through their casserole recipes.  Hold on to the season with august harvests from the yard and farmer's markets. Don't put away the grill It's still barbecue season too.

You can still enjoy just picked tomatoes and peppers even though you're packing those school lunches. Use those late summer beefsteaks for  those same lunches. Everyone lives a good old fashioned tomato sandwich on toast and slathered with mayo. They're also good for Saturday lunch BLT's or for a Sunday beach picnic. A quick week day dinner involves those fresh ones along with freshly picked basil in a salsa cruda. This is an uncooked sauce made an hour or two before the pasta is cooked.It's left out to marinate in olive oil at room tempeature. It's a great sauce epsecially when served with chunky pasta like rotelli. Grilled veggies can be made outdoors until the first very cold snap (and beyond if you're hardy)Think sliced bell peppers and eggplant brushed with olive oil and dusted with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Farms are still offering ears of fresh corn. Get  them and create tasty Mexican street corn with them. The kernals are also good in a cold fiesta salad with diced red and green peppers. If you are in the mood for making soup then think of the summery gazpacho. This is perfect to make for the still steamy days ahead. It's combining tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers  and olive oil, water and garlic in a soup that is chilled for a few hours.

You may get the urge to ditch the barbecue and make an oven roast. Think again about this unless you have really good air conditioning. We will still have ninety degree days in  many parts of the US. London Broil is a winter meat that' graced many a Christmas and New Year's table but it's also a great grill meat. You could easily grill it after marinating it in a mix of olive oil, red wine vinegar and garlic. Slice it an d serve it on fremch or Italian bread for a delcious sandwich. Another fall roast favorite Cornish hens can also be grill roasted too. Rub with melted butter and lemon and add thyme to the insides for a flavorful bite. Usually both the beef and poulty are good with mashed potatoes but serve grilled baked potatoes instead. You will have to preheat the grill to 315 degrees Farenheit. ( most grills now have thermometers in them to let you know the temperature) and then rub  them in olive oil and salt and then wrape them in foil. Cook thirty to forty mimutes or until a skewer pierces them with no resistance. Cut in half and serve with butter and sour cream. As far as dessert, have s'mores . These are still fun to eat and if you do want a fall vibe. sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice before you put on the top graham cracker.

Hold on to summer cooking. Make a cooling soup like gazpacho. fire up the grill Have a tomato sandwich. It's still warm weather. Embrace it.