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A Venezualan Holiday Treat

 The holidays are a time to try out new foods for parties and snacking. One is the Venezualan hallaca, a kind of tamale filled with a rich meaty stew.it's the perfect treat to make for those days when everyone is off from work and school.

Regular contributor Christina Morales wrote about them in yesterday's New York Times Food section.They are a small square filled with an array of meats and spices. Cicken , pork and beef are stuffed into a corn covering .It's stained deep red from annato, an orange red food coloring made from the seeds of the annatto , a kind of chestnut like pod. There are also scallions and onion too in it. These have been comforting to hundreds of Venezualan immigrants coming to New York City thanks to Hector Artguinzones. He recreated his mother's recipe for the mibrants coming into the city. When he first arrived he tried to find hallacas like what his mother used to make. Unfortunately the only ones he managed to get were filled with ketchup. That wouldn;t do., His wife Niurka ans their sin Samuel helped in creating them. They're vastly popular and bring families together , thanks to the recipe being so intensive.

What's in a hallaca? You will need chopped  skinless pork shoulder along with six slices of bacon. Russett potatoes along with green peppers are also added along with aji dulce peppers. These are mild flavored Caribbean red peppers.Chickpeas and raisins are also added . Dissolved Maggi chicken broth cubes are also added to this.. To start this off is cooking the annato seeds in oil. The oil will turn deep red much like the color of red wine. Strain and set this aside.You'll need this for the guiso. The meats are simmered in this until the bacon and pork are crisp. Transfr the meats to a plate and add the veggies. Add the raisins and also the olives  to this. You have to then prepare the banana leaves. You also have to prepare the masa or cornmeal covering too. This si just mixing it with water and salt The cornmeal is rolled into balls and then place in thhe banana leaves. The guiso or strew is placed in the midle of this and then the whole thing is sealed They're boiled in a large pot of water until ten or twelve minutes.  They then can be served.

Hallacas are a great holiday snack or meal. They're a bit too elaborate to make but worth it. Try them for a taste of a Venezualan Christmas.

Seven Fishes Simplified

 Oneof the biggest holiday meals for any Southern Italian is The Feast Of The Seven Fishes. Mothers and daughters went crazy , first shopping for a vast variety of fish  in early winter. Then they had to cook all of it on CHristmas Eve, a very religious day in the Catholic calendar but also a wild one too. The day held nothing but stress. Until now. There's an easier way of  dealing with this imprtant meal and the seafood that accompanies it.

Cookbook author Dan Pelosi wrote this fabulous piece on the dinner in todays' New York Times Wednesday section. He gives a streamlined version of the feast, allowing home chefs to relax a bit more and stress less.In Southern Italy the day is known as La Vigilia or The Vigil.it's rooted in Roman Catholicism which calls for abstaining of any meat on the eve of any holiday.Hence the abundance of seafood. The amount of seven different seafood dishes comes from a Biblical significance. There are no strict rules and every family has their own go to menu. The problem is to bring seven fish dishes to the table, to honor the generations of dinners before prepared lovingly by parents, grandparents , aunta and uncles. The complex menu has evolved to keep the heart of it beating. However it's a bit too much by modern standards. According to Italalian American chef, Chris Petroni owner of Manhattan's Bertucci's restaurant, it can be a heavy lift for many home chefs and their families.

Luckily you can bring seven fishes  - not seven dishes to the Christmas Eve table.Mr Pelosi has a good mix of hot and cold dishes. He offers a zesty cold seafood salad that combines shrimp, scallops, and calamari. Celery , fennel and olives provide a coolness that works well with the chilled seafood. There are also sliced hot cherry peppers for a dash of color and a zing fo fire to liven it up. A good starter with it are the zeppoli con le alici or anchovies. There's are th e classic Italian feast zeppolis made saovry with the addition of salty anchiovies. These balls are deep fried until crunchy and served with lemon wedges and parsley. With these serve the clams oreganata. Ritz crackers mixed with butter fried shallots and Parmesan cheese top off this classic dish. They're baked in abath of white wine and clam broth reserved from them steaming Butter is also added to this and olive oil is drizzwed on the clams. For the main dish there are mussels and cod in a tomato sauce served over thick strands of bucatini. You could add Calabrian chili paste forheat if you want.

This is the Feast Of The Seven Fishes streamelined for a better enjoyment of the feast.It combines tradition with a new spin on classic seafood dishes. it makes for less  stress and moroe time with family.

Put Festive In Everyday Cooking

 The CHristmas dinner is always the star of the holiday cooking season.Yet you could alkso make the meals leading up to CHristmas just as festive and just as fum. It just takes some creativity.

You can easily turn dinner into a salutte to the holiday. Homemade pizza cna be tirned into a wreath. It's taking th e pizza dough and forming it intoa doughnut shaped circle with an opening in the dough. Roll it out and then tear the middle. Kids will love the fact that there's a double crust here. It's then putting extra sauce on for that holiday redness and sprinkle such fun green toppings as spinach and green pepper slices. You can also make pizza canes. Form the dough in the shape of candy cane. LAyer strips of mozzarella to create the classic red and white look. You can also try a Santa Claus pizza using puff pastry along with olives for the eyes and cheese for Santa's beard, mustache and eyebrows. Use a cherry tomato for his mouth.meat loaf may seem plain, but it , too, can be turned into a festive dinner.Stud it with sliced gtreen olives as wreaths with pimentoes acting as bows. You can also add red and green peppers both for taste and color too. This version may become so popular that you'll be asked to make it all year round.Mashed potatoes can also be made festive thanks to adding a cup of both red and green peppers .

Even simple desserts can be made festive.Ice cream can get that festive holiday sparkle by addng red and green cherries in a sundae. Layer them with scoops of chocolate and syrup. Add a huge puff of whipped cream and then top with red and green sprinkles. The last can be bought at your local grocery store where they use them to decoratte cakes and cupckaes. You cna also make candy cane ice cream sandwiches.Use store bought brownies and then spead softened vanilla or chocolate ice cream on them. Add a layer of crushed pepperment candy and top with another brownie. Dust with confectioner's sugar. Another fun treat is  peppermint chocolate trifle. Slice up a chocolate pound cake or layer brownues in a  trifle dish or bowl. Add peppermint whipped cream. You can make this by adding a few drops of peppermint oil to heavy cream. Confectiioner's sugar is also added to give it some stuffness. Red gel food coloring can be mixed in for a fun pink shade.Add layers of crushed peppermints for more flavor or even chocolate syrup.

Christmas is about festive food. Create these colorful meals and desserts leading up ot the big day. Your family will appreciate their tastiness and fun

One Week To Go

 Christmas is exactly one week away. Are you ready? Are you all set for another round of baking? Peeling spuds? Get that ham or turkey? What do you need? One thing you don;t need is stress.

A lot fo people don't have the time to bake. However if you;re craving hiome baked, then buy a couple of logs of the Pillsbury Slice And Bakes. It's the same home bakd taste but easier. They have  some cute patterns like reindeet and snowmen. If you don;t even have time for this, then hit your local LIDL and other supermarkets like Acme or Stop and Shop. Lidl has an excellent selection of German libekuchen and specalioos. groceries such as Acmes not only have stoew baked cookies cakes and pies but also excellent selection of frozen desserts like Marie Callendar's chocolate chiffon pie ( I think this will be my Christmas dessert) and their banana cream one.Buy the easy to bake even in an air fryer crescent rolls for the main course.What about a Christmas brunch? Same thing. Buy easy to bake cinnamon rolls or just buy them along with smaller rolls for jams and flavored butters.

You should have the main course or should be buying it this week. Make sure you have plenty of room in the fridge or freezer for the ham or the turkey. You really can't sub in here. YOu can buy smaller easier to roast hams and sub in capon or Cornish hens for the turkey for easier cooking.The sides however, are a different story. Yes you can make that green bean cassarole. Do you want to make it from scratch which is a bit more time consuming or make the classic recipe using Campbell's mushroom soup with frizzled onions on top? You have to have all the ingredients for both kinds. If you're serving ham, then have baked beams to go with it.This is another conundrum. Do you want to make it from scratch or just buy a can and reheat them in the microwave. Luckily the homemade kind can be cooked days before Christmas and reheated for the meal.A ham dinner also requires potato salad. Again make sure you have th eingredients  such as potatoes, celery , eggs and mayo tor this. If your main course is turkey you have to ecide now if you want scratch stuffing or Stove Stop Stuffing. The last is easier to make and save you time to make time for other sides.

The biggest cooking day of the year is a week away. Be calm,Be prepard. getting through Christmas dinner and dessert is easy if you have a goodl handle on what you;'re doing

Uh Oh Those Holiday Disasters

 Anything made in the kitchen could go wrong. That doesn;t exclude holiday baking or cooking  What to do when this happens? First, don 't panic, Secondly you cna fix this

Baking is considered an exact art. The problem is sometimes that exactness can sometimes go awry. It's even worse when you have to have a platter all set for a holiday gathering.Lt's start at the beginning. You could wind up with gooey or badly textured cookies if the butter is not at room temperature. It needs to be taken out of the refrigerator fifteen minutes before using. DO NOT microwave it!. It'll become too melty and ruin the recipe. If it's too soft return it back to the fridge for a few minutes for it to harden. What happens when th eggs and butter clump instead of blending smoothly? Just keep mixing them on a medium speed. Eventually everything will come together in a lump free , smooth dough. What about if the dough is too thick or too thin? If it's too thick then add any liquid like milk or water to it. You could also add some melted butter too.If the dough is too thin or runny then add about a tablespoon or two of flour to thicken it.What happens when you accidentally leave them in the oven and the bottoms burn? You can scrape off the char  along with frosting this part.

Cooking that holiday ham or turkey should be a snap , right? Yet even these can wind up with a host of problems. Ham can easily go dry if you overcook it. Use chicken broth instead of water to moisten it. This will also give it more flavor. It's just simmering the cooked cut in the broth for about six minutes with eac side being in the borht for three minutes each.The ham is still pretty tasty if it burns. They're may even be fights for the crispy blackened parts. Suppose your turkey dries out when cooking? Slice it and ladle the slices with gravy to give them moisture.If the bird gets burned, just remove the singed meat and skin with a knife and serve with gravy. This also applies to the charred parts if you don;t wanrt to throw anything away. The classic green bean casserole could turn out to be a nightmare too. Using frozen string beans can cause the dish to be too runny or soupy. If that's the case make a quick roux or even add starch to thicken it. Sweet potatoes are always a great side but if thye're overcooked they can dry out and lose their nutrients. Pour melted butter over them to ge the flesh creamy and moist again.

Don;t worry if there's a holiday baking ro cooking disaster. You can fix it. The end result is a tasty cookie or meal that will be memorable.

Your Holiday Happy Drink

 It's that time of year when nerves are frazzled and we all need a good sip of something. What's yours? is it a glass of your favorite Cabernet to settle your nerves. A good cup of Earl Gray? Or those big sundae like peppermint mocha iced coffee, complete with a blob of whipped cream and chocolate syrup drizzled on top?

Let us know what keeps you sane during these days leading up to Christmas.