It's a blog for foodies around the world. Here you can read about recipes , new ideas and old techniques. You don't have to be a gourmet, just someone who really LOVES food and drink!!!!
Mother's Day is Sunday and that's a time for all kids to cook something yummy for Mom.Here's the question what was your best recipe you made for your Mom.I liked making cinnamon toast for her when I was younger.
Let us know yours Was it a cheese omelets? Hamburgers on the grill? Or something more elaborate?
Fusion food is nothing new. It;s basically how Cajun and Creole food were born. Even Mexican recipes can be fused with another ones.This may seem novel but it;'s actually an old idea brought to light.
Regular contributor and chef, Tejal Rao wrote about the unique blend of Mexican and Indian cuisine in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section. This is not some new fangled idea brought about by a fast food chain.It has to do with restrictive immigration laws a century ago.In 1917 Punjabi-Sikh and Muslim men immigrated to Sacramento to find work as farmers and loggers out side Califormia's capital beginning in the late 1800's After the Immigration Act of 1917 which made it near impossible for Indian women to migrate to the US, hundreds of men married Mexican women,New kinds of cooking and recipes emerged from their home kitchens and even a handful of restaurants sprung up.One couple GUlam and Inez Aguirre Rasul left farming to open ElRanchero in Yuba City, California Since Mr Rasul was a Muslim pork dishes were e off the table.Instead there were roti quesadillas with cheese,onions and shredded beef.It was a hit until the restaurant closed in the 1990s.
Mexican Indian cuisine isn;t codified. so there are really no classic dishes.There could be a series of different ones taken from one or two recipes.This is how is ts in the Mexican Indian restaurant Mirra in Chicago.Slices of yellowtail snapper are drenched in a lime spiked buttermilk ,hot and tangy with a garlic and Serrano pepper acha a South Asian pickle.It;s tucked under a delicate crunch of nopales ginger and curry leaves. They also celebrate Mr. Rasul's roti by having it on the menu along side shrimp Chaat and lamb tacos or taco Arabe. Their biryani tends to go with local produce than the more traditional ingredients.There is also Saucy Chick in Pasadena, Califnronia run by Mexican Marcel Michel and his wife Rhea Patel Marcel.They call their cuisine Indi-Mex and feature rotisserie chicken marinated in echo jeera spectacular curry that is based on one of the backbone spices of Indian cuisine, Another marinade mimicked Mr. Michels' favorite pibil, a marinade made from orange juice and achiote There's also going to be a spicy sweet dal as well as fish pakora to the taco menu.
Mexican Indian food or Indi-Mex may be the next big food trend. Two cultures come together to create a cuisine that's both flavorful and interesting. It's may change up the way Mexican food is thought about.
College can bring many memories with it. Awesome professors, Interesting classes and fun activities. Yet what about the food? Many barely remember what they ever ate during those two ro four years. Why? Maybe colleges need tutoring in what to serve.
THis was apparent wen I went to my college;s cherished tradition of breakfast night., Fairleigh Dickinson University has this on both their Florham-Madison and Teaneck-Hackensack campuses. It's where University staff, proffs and office workers alike get together - with the help of cafeteria staff to serve a hot breakfast the night before the first exam.(It wasn't there when I was an undergrad.) It's fun - and tiring. I served my students and others all sorts of first meal staples and treats. There was herbed scrambled eggs, Tater tots, French toast - so popular, - pancakes and two kinds of meat sausage -turkey links and pork patties. I'm sure the starch and sugar rush helped in studying - although it was more of a party with music and dance-offs.Yet it got me thinking. FDU always had good cafeteria food in my day. I can still remember the creamy scrambled eggs and crispy ,crunchy bacon. Yet kids today are smarter than we were. WHy weren't they demanding more fruit and even veggies in our cafeteria year round.
Processed food and the college diet go hand in hand.It;'s easier for cafeteria to buy it in bulk.It's quick and easy to prepare especially for a large crowd. The cafeteria in our Student Union Building has a relatively good salad bar. Our other does not. Kids can get bowls with healthy chicken and quorn yet I feel they can do more. Even community colleges -I've also taught in one - Passaic Community College - can offer more healthier choices. PCC has a varied menu - one of the best I've had with Jamaican chicken jerk and tasty empanadas yet I don;t recall salads. More progressive colleges such as Bowdoin College in Bowdoin Maine offers fresh ,organic veggies WHy fresh? The campus has it's own gardens and many of the veggies find their way into soups and salads. There are vegan and vegetarian options as well as gluten free. Cornell University in upstate New York actually has a food court counting twelve eateries. Students can buy fresh baked goods along with fresh veggies and fruits. even their ice cream isn;Lt processed. It's also made fresh at the college creamery.
Schools have a lot to learn from their students. Hopefully Faiirleigh and other schools can learn from these other colleges. It's time to take eating seriously as studying on campus.
It used to be that gnocchi were hard to make. it involved boiling potatoes then mashing them with flour and egg to form ropes. These were cut into bite sized pieces and then stamped with a fork to form little grooves. Then there was a drying period where they would be laid out on a table or even a bed(!) to dry. Not anymore. Thank heavens for modern day gnocchi.
I realized the ease of these when I made two of Lidl's I stand gnocchi and sauce for Sunday supper.
The famed Kentucky Derby brings its' own special drinks and foods to the American table.What would a Derby party be without a cooling sip of min julips and tasty bites of hot browns and burgo.. Yet these can be redone to fit summer parties and everyday meals.It's just varying the classic recipes to fit your tastes
Mint juleps are di figeur for today's parties. It;s a simple drink first starting in the 17o00's an dusting Kentucky's most famous product - bourbon. The classic recipes involves making a simple syrup which is nothing more than granulated sugar and water cooked down in a sauce pan, and mixing freshly chopped mint leaves together. Pour as much or as little bourbon as you like into this and add pebbled or crushed ice. For something slightly different use maple syrup instead of the simple syrup.This would be perfect for a late Sunday brunch because the maple flavor would pair well with French toast, waffles or pancakes. You could also create a cherry mint julep by subbing in Luxardo liqueur a cherry rich after dinner cordial.Another idea is a strawberry flavored one. Add minced or pureed strawberries to the sugar and mint , then the bourbon and ice. Chocolate and mint go hand in hand and you can easily sub in the mints leaves with chocolate mint to create a sweet dessert drink.
The foods of the Kentucky Derby can also be reimagined. The famed Louisville hot brown is a an open faced turkey sandwich topped with bacon and tomatoes. Mornay sauce is poured over it and the sandwich is broiled for five minutes in a broiler. It's usually made like a casserole with it being cut into individual squares for single servings. You could turn the sandwich into a variation, Devonshire turkey which was created in Pennsylvania a few years after the Hot Browns. This is omitting the Mornay sauce so it's more of a dryer , yet still tasty sandwich. The Mornay sauce can be subbed out for a creamier bechamel sauce and Canadian bacon can be used instead of regular bacon. Borgoo is another classic Kentucky dish.This stew is a variation of Brunswick stew and made with a melange of pork, beef and chicken along with potaotes carrots and tomatoes.Okra , green beans corm and a diced onion also are mixed in to give it more colro and taste. Barbecue sauce give it its; classic tang while apple cider vinegar gives it bite. It's usually made with garlic, bell peppers and celery however you can omit these. For a more vegan version nix the meats and add kidney and pinto beans. Sub in vegetable broth instead of the standard chicken one too for a more vegetarian friendly dish.
Kentucky Derby treats can be served any time of the year not just the first Saturday of May. Try the julep variations .Make diufferent forms of Hot Browns and burgoo. They're all tasty.
Tomorrow is the Kentucky Derby and with it comes the famed cocktail the mint julep. Summer cocktails are wonderful. They're light ,fruity and delicious with summery nibbles and hors'douevre's
Here 's the question - what your favorite summer cocktail? Mine would be crushed strawberries with chilled Prosecco poured over them.It celebrates the fruit of the season while giving some kick.
Let us know what your favorite heady sip is.
All restaurants should have a fiully stocked kitchen, right? There should be a large range with plenty of space to cook three or four dishes, a big fridge to hold supplies and a huge table to create many mise enplaces. Yet what happens when an eatery has no kitchen? Can it still survive? Surprisingly yes!
Regular contributor and chef herself, Piya Krishna wrote about this phenomenon in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. She visited a handful of restaurants across the US to see exactly how chefs fare with little to no prep and cooking space. They do very well, relying on innovation to create mouth watering and memorable dishes for customers. Take Friends and Family in Oakland ,California where the only cooker is a panini press. Chef Gaby Maeda uses it to do all sorts of things, from griddling onions to charring cabbage. Without a fryer she bastes chicken wings in brown butter to give them that "unctiousness" only a deep fryer can give.Mexican food can be made without a grill. Chef and owner of Denver's Alma Finda Fina Johhnny Curiel has to forgo this major component of south of the border cooking.Instead he whips up braises and crudos in a cooking space that consists mainly of three induction burners and a convection oven.There is a griddle in the back of the restaurant where he and his staff turn ground, corn into nixtamalized tortillas..
Can a chef cook into a five foot kitchen? Yes! At Charleston, South Carolina's Kultura ,chef and owner Nikko Cagalaman makes Filipino recipes in a kitchen with just one(!) power plug. Guests sit at a bar just "one hand"away from cooking stations. He doesn;t pan fry scallops. Now they seared on top like creme brule and cooked in a sauce. New York City has always been the city with zero space for almost everything. Chef Sunny Lee of Sunn's knows this and this is why her Manhattan eatery is so miniscule She borrowed a wok from next door restaurant Tolo to char broccoli for nanui. Her kitchen accessories, microplanes ,scissors and strainers all hand like pictures on a wall. Since she can't char veggies she tosses shallot powder into a tangy dressing to mimic the taste of char.Her salads are all made from pickled veggies because she doesn't have a fridge for fresh ones.Cellar Door Provisions in Chicago runs under the same premise.Ethan Pikas shrank the kitchen by a third during the pandemic and now he and his chef de cuisine Alex Cochran steam buns ,simmer stock and roast a pig's head all in one oven. Most of his foods are brined which saves from cooking them. He creates a fig leaf vinegar which can dress up a beurre blanc for sole..Brined white asparagus punches up beef tartare.
Can a restaurant survive without a kitchen?Priya KrYes.It does take a talented chef and innovation to do so. It does work=/
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