Everyone needs some kind of sweetener, whether in their coffee or tea along in their baked goods. We all know white sugar is bad for you. There is honey and raw sugar.The question is which is better? Which works well with drinks along with cooking needs.
Honey is nature's sweetener.It's been used since ancient times, starting with the Greeks and Romans.Depending on the flowers involved in making it, the stuff contains niacin, riboflavin and calcium,It also has iron in it along with zinc and potassium.,Honey also contains Vitamin C and is useful in tissue and cell repair. Raw sugar is actually white or refined sugar but with out the processing. It really is devoid of everything from calories to vitamins.It's slightly better for you than white sugar..If you want a more substantial sweeteener than go for molasses or even the cactus based agave.Honey also adds more depth along with antioxidants to breads, cakes and cookies. Because of its' slight acidity, it reacts with the baking soda creating a moister, denser cake or loaf.
As far as portability raw sugar does win. There are packets that you can easily stash in a lunch bag or at your desk without any fuss . It also is easier to bake with as well however honey is still the healthier ingredient. Then there's the sticky residue. Honey can be messy when it's spilled and a pain to clean up. Raw sugar can just be swept away.It's also better to take on vacations too because it is easier to pack. Then there' the coffee conundrum.Coffee almost cries out for sugar packets, Putting an aromatic honey in a good cup of joe may clash with the drink's rich flavor. It's better with any kind of tea. Leave the raw sugar for your cappuccinos or lattes.
Honey or sugar - which is the better choice. For home stick with honey. It is used more and can be used in baking and just to sweeten teas. For the office and vacations use the packets, but use them sparingly, You can have both , and both work well in those different and diverse situations.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Foods For The New Year
Tomorrow night is the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.Its a time of celebrating and welcoming in new harvests.It;s also a time to ensure luck by serving special dishes with meaning. . These have been handed down for centuries, and eaten with the same relish and hope that their ancestors had. Each is special.
The Jews like to start with something sweet to ensure a sweet year. This is often honey dipped in their delicious egg bread challah.This last is baked either in a braided shape or in spirals or rounds to symbolize the continuity of Creation. Sometimes raisins or honey is added to the dough for extra sweetness. Children , whether at home or at school,get treated to apple slices dipped in honey. Another specialty is honey cake itself, more of a spice cake thanks to addition of cloves, cinnamon and allspice,.New fruit is also on the Rosh Hashanah table as well and it has to be the first fruit , untasted of the season. This is usually the desert pomegranate because its' many seeds are an allegory to good deeds that will be done in the upcoming year. Fish too is eaten for fertility.
The holiday is also full of special recipes as well. Many households prefer to have brisket served with carrots,Carrots are another holiday food with special meaning as well. Some create tzimmes, baked and sweetened carrots. Like brisket recipes these vary from family to family. Some add honey as a sweetener while others use chopped prunes or even a sprinkle of cinnamon. A roasted chicken is another holiday favorite. Again making it involves an element of sweetness This time again with cinnamon and apples.Since fish symbolizes fertility , many young couples opt for it. Try a fish stew with cod and haddock or stick with the traditional gefilte or stuffed fish.
A new year will be coming it and with it foods to both celebrate and symbolize it's arrival and meaning. What is eaten is a connection to a past rich with culture and history. The foods also symbolize a bright , sweet and prosperous year ahead. too.
The Jews like to start with something sweet to ensure a sweet year. This is often honey dipped in their delicious egg bread challah.This last is baked either in a braided shape or in spirals or rounds to symbolize the continuity of Creation. Sometimes raisins or honey is added to the dough for extra sweetness. Children , whether at home or at school,get treated to apple slices dipped in honey. Another specialty is honey cake itself, more of a spice cake thanks to addition of cloves, cinnamon and allspice,.New fruit is also on the Rosh Hashanah table as well and it has to be the first fruit , untasted of the season. This is usually the desert pomegranate because its' many seeds are an allegory to good deeds that will be done in the upcoming year. Fish too is eaten for fertility.
The holiday is also full of special recipes as well. Many households prefer to have brisket served with carrots,Carrots are another holiday food with special meaning as well. Some create tzimmes, baked and sweetened carrots. Like brisket recipes these vary from family to family. Some add honey as a sweetener while others use chopped prunes or even a sprinkle of cinnamon. A roasted chicken is another holiday favorite. Again making it involves an element of sweetness This time again with cinnamon and apples.Since fish symbolizes fertility , many young couples opt for it. Try a fish stew with cod and haddock or stick with the traditional gefilte or stuffed fish.
A new year will be coming it and with it foods to both celebrate and symbolize it's arrival and meaning. What is eaten is a connection to a past rich with culture and history. The foods also symbolize a bright , sweet and prosperous year ahead. too.
Friday, September 14, 2012
The Very Versatile Shortbread
Shortbread is the LBD or Little Black Dress of cookies. You can have it plain or make the batch with a variety of different ingredients. They can even be made savory too as a go with for chili or soups. The extra plus is that shortbread is easy to make. Even kids can bake them without too much fuss and trouble.
The cookie was the subject of an article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. It's an easy and simple recipe as it has been for centuries. It was first made during medieval times in Scotland using the same ingredients as today. Mark Bittman who wrote the article uses the basics.It's unsalted butter (although you can use salted) sugar yolk flour cornstarch and salt. For healthier cookies you can sub in whole wheat flour as opposed to white and sub in two tablespoons of honey instead of refined sugar. Baking is only for ten minutes and the recipe is just a simple mix.
Here comes the fun Shortbread can be jazzed up in a variety of ways. Mr. Bittman suggests dipping the cookies (which can be made in rounds or bars known as fingers)I like it that way too, especially with a rich dark chocolate.My mother and I made them this way for several Christmases. The taste is amazing, a perfect melding of butter and rich cocoa.You can also add chocolate chips as well. You can also make them citrus-y .Add lemon or orange zest to the dough. Other twists include cinnamon (nice) or vanilla. For savory shortb read reduce the butter and add olive oil and rosemary. You can also make Parmesan ones and ones laced with black peppers.
Shortbread is the most versatile cookie to bake., You can either go savory or sweet or try your own combo. The result will always be interesting and tasty with a melt in your mouth feel.
The cookie was the subject of an article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. It's an easy and simple recipe as it has been for centuries. It was first made during medieval times in Scotland using the same ingredients as today. Mark Bittman who wrote the article uses the basics.It's unsalted butter (although you can use salted) sugar yolk flour cornstarch and salt. For healthier cookies you can sub in whole wheat flour as opposed to white and sub in two tablespoons of honey instead of refined sugar. Baking is only for ten minutes and the recipe is just a simple mix.
Here comes the fun Shortbread can be jazzed up in a variety of ways. Mr. Bittman suggests dipping the cookies (which can be made in rounds or bars known as fingers)I like it that way too, especially with a rich dark chocolate.My mother and I made them this way for several Christmases. The taste is amazing, a perfect melding of butter and rich cocoa.You can also add chocolate chips as well. You can also make them citrus-y .Add lemon or orange zest to the dough. Other twists include cinnamon (nice) or vanilla. For savory shortb read reduce the butter and add olive oil and rosemary. You can also make Parmesan ones and ones laced with black peppers.
Shortbread is the most versatile cookie to bake., You can either go savory or sweet or try your own combo. The result will always be interesting and tasty with a melt in your mouth feel.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
True Spanish Cooking
Spanish cuisine, like any other has been so generalized as well as misunderstood. There is a whole range to it beyond tapas and paella. Luckily there are chefs who are succeeding in letting foodies know the true side of Iberian cooking. It's not the food of Latin America or Mexico but true and pure Spanish food.
It was the subject of an article written by Glenn Collins in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.The famed Spanish American chef Jose Andres is offering cooking courses on it to show students real Iberian cooking. Thanks to Italian and French cuisines overpowering the American palate for decades, true Spanish food is often overlooked and under rated. That is all going to change. Chef Andres will be teaching students traditional dishes as well as acclimating them to the cuisine's ingredients. Hopefully there will some good restaurants opening in the relatively near future with the chef's influence on them/
True Spanish cooking involves a number of different ingredients and cooking techniques. Chef Andres will be showing students that old chestnut, gazpacho but he will be making it the right way. It should be a liquid salad not just a bowl of icky cold soup. He also wants them to know jamon the air cured salty ham that accompanies many dishes as well as allioli, a version of the Provencale garlic sauce aioli. He will also introduce them to mojama, tuna packed in sea salt and hung out to dry. Chef Andre includes his fried egg or eggs a al Velasquez recipe in the interview. This is just a plain egg cooked in hot olive oil and garlic bath.. It is then served with jamon , and together it makes a heavenly dish , perfect for lunch .It wa snamed after the famed Velasquez painting fo an old woman cooking an egg.
Spanish food is not just tapas and paella. It is not from the New World. It is an Old World cuisine with varied tastes and flavors , native to the Iberian peninsula. Thanks to Chef Andres, it will be well known and as much beloved as Italian or French cooking.
It was the subject of an article written by Glenn Collins in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.The famed Spanish American chef Jose Andres is offering cooking courses on it to show students real Iberian cooking. Thanks to Italian and French cuisines overpowering the American palate for decades, true Spanish food is often overlooked and under rated. That is all going to change. Chef Andres will be teaching students traditional dishes as well as acclimating them to the cuisine's ingredients. Hopefully there will some good restaurants opening in the relatively near future with the chef's influence on them/
True Spanish cooking involves a number of different ingredients and cooking techniques. Chef Andres will be showing students that old chestnut, gazpacho but he will be making it the right way. It should be a liquid salad not just a bowl of icky cold soup. He also wants them to know jamon the air cured salty ham that accompanies many dishes as well as allioli, a version of the Provencale garlic sauce aioli. He will also introduce them to mojama, tuna packed in sea salt and hung out to dry. Chef Andre includes his fried egg or eggs a al Velasquez recipe in the interview. This is just a plain egg cooked in hot olive oil and garlic bath.. It is then served with jamon , and together it makes a heavenly dish , perfect for lunch .It wa snamed after the famed Velasquez painting fo an old woman cooking an egg.
Spanish food is not just tapas and paella. It is not from the New World. It is an Old World cuisine with varied tastes and flavors , native to the Iberian peninsula. Thanks to Chef Andres, it will be well known and as much beloved as Italian or French cooking.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Return Of Buttermilk
Buttermilk was one of the staples of American cooking and life.It represented a homespun era in our history.It was also a rich drink , full of a tart , buttery flavor that people craved. Luckily it's coming back and retaining that farm fresh goodness.
It was the feature of this week's New York Times Dining section. The piece written by Dining regular , Julia Moskin, tells about how buttermilk is made and who is selling it. There are also some great recipes too. Buttermilk is just the milk leftover when butter is churned. There are tiny blobs of butter floating in it giving it its' tangy taste and buttery aftertaste.This is due to the chemical reaction or diacetyl which gives melted butter that distinctive, seductive aroma. Buttermilk was commonplace in both 19th and 20th century America. The South practically lived on it and used it frequently in baking, For those who have never had it , it kind of is a liquidy creme fraiche . Buttermilk is also an excellent baking ingredient because it bonds so well with flour and glutens.
Buttermilk , straight off the farm should be bought at farmer's markets or Whole Foods Groceries. Anything else is really not a good representative of it.Some independent dairies such as Cruze's Dairy Farm out of Knoxville TN have taken it to new levels. They sell flavored varieties such as fig and strawberry along with buttermilk ice cream in hipster flavors such as lime cardamon and salty caramel. Buttermilk also keeps well too. It can be unrefrigerated and won't turn sour. There are natural cultures in it, picked up from the usually nonsterile wooden churn.These would start a fermentation process, thickening and preserving the milk, along with souring without spoiling it.This is accomplished by lacto bacilli, the same microbes found i yogurt, sour cream and creme fraiche.
Buttermilk is making a comeback and in a big way. If you haven't tried it before ,do so now.It's a pleasant reminder of our past and a powerful player in tomorrow's food trends.
It was the feature of this week's New York Times Dining section. The piece written by Dining regular , Julia Moskin, tells about how buttermilk is made and who is selling it. There are also some great recipes too. Buttermilk is just the milk leftover when butter is churned. There are tiny blobs of butter floating in it giving it its' tangy taste and buttery aftertaste.This is due to the chemical reaction or diacetyl which gives melted butter that distinctive, seductive aroma. Buttermilk was commonplace in both 19th and 20th century America. The South practically lived on it and used it frequently in baking, For those who have never had it , it kind of is a liquidy creme fraiche . Buttermilk is also an excellent baking ingredient because it bonds so well with flour and glutens.
Buttermilk , straight off the farm should be bought at farmer's markets or Whole Foods Groceries. Anything else is really not a good representative of it.Some independent dairies such as Cruze's Dairy Farm out of Knoxville TN have taken it to new levels. They sell flavored varieties such as fig and strawberry along with buttermilk ice cream in hipster flavors such as lime cardamon and salty caramel. Buttermilk also keeps well too. It can be unrefrigerated and won't turn sour. There are natural cultures in it, picked up from the usually nonsterile wooden churn.These would start a fermentation process, thickening and preserving the milk, along with souring without spoiling it.This is accomplished by lacto bacilli, the same microbes found i yogurt, sour cream and creme fraiche.
Buttermilk is making a comeback and in a big way. If you haven't tried it before ,do so now.It's a pleasant reminder of our past and a powerful player in tomorrow's food trends.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
A Day of Helping
Every year we remember this day with good deeds and acts.If you haven't already then think about donating food or helping out at food pantries. If you're a foodie then consider something creative to help either our needy or our soldiers . It could be anything , from a stand to a bake sale.
Remember if you do want to help those around you then always consider your town or church's food pantry. Canned foods are always the best, especially vegetables. Also canned beans work well because they're so versatile. If you've been growing veggies and have a bumper crop, don't hesitate in bringing extra squash or tomatoes.The same thing is true with fruit, if you have a few fruit trees on your property. Another good deed is helping out at the soup kitchens in your area. There's always a need for people to either serve, prepare or just cleanup. You may even make a few friends in the process too.
Another way to help is to have some kind of stand. Think about a cider stand(it's kind of late in the season for lemonade one) where you and the kids can sells cups of cider along with homemade caramel or jelly apples. The proceeds can go to a charity of your choice or possibly to buy some essentials for a homeless shelter. Baking for the veterans too is always a nice idea. They would appreciate a cake or plate of cookies - a very small gift for all the work they've done for our country .
Today will always be a day marked with profound sadness.It will never go away - not in our lifetimes. yet we can alleviate it somehow -someway in a charitable way,
Remember if you do want to help those around you then always consider your town or church's food pantry. Canned foods are always the best, especially vegetables. Also canned beans work well because they're so versatile. If you've been growing veggies and have a bumper crop, don't hesitate in bringing extra squash or tomatoes.The same thing is true with fruit, if you have a few fruit trees on your property. Another good deed is helping out at the soup kitchens in your area. There's always a need for people to either serve, prepare or just cleanup. You may even make a few friends in the process too.
Another way to help is to have some kind of stand. Think about a cider stand(it's kind of late in the season for lemonade one) where you and the kids can sells cups of cider along with homemade caramel or jelly apples. The proceeds can go to a charity of your choice or possibly to buy some essentials for a homeless shelter. Baking for the veterans too is always a nice idea. They would appreciate a cake or plate of cookies - a very small gift for all the work they've done for our country .
Today will always be a day marked with profound sadness.It will never go away - not in our lifetimes. yet we can alleviate it somehow -someway in a charitable way,
Monday, September 10, 2012
Wacky Wedding Venues
Yesterday I witnessed a whole wedding ceremony while having a dog at one of my favorite hot dog stands at the Jersey Shore. Steps away there was a beautiful, warm and windswept beach, perfect for tying the knot. Yet happy couple wanted their nuptials at The Windmill, better known for their truly delicious burgers and hot dogs than wedding cake and rice. The happy couple wasn't alone in wanting a different kind of reception. What's trending now are truly unique weddings.
It first started with the wedding cake. Gone were the traditional tiers of white frosting and the couple on top. In their place were now cakes made in the shape of sandcastles and hot rods. Then menus changed to involve sliders and cotton candy instead of the usually sit down dinner with cocktail hour . Then the entire venue changed from sedate but overly elaborate wedding palace to a couple's favorite beach or the pizzeria of their first date.Nowthe prospective bride and groom can have their weddings anywhere, from a Stewarts drive thru to their local doughnut shop. Strange , yes but also romantic and kind of cool.
If you are thinking about having your wedding in an unusual place , start planning. Most restaurants, even pizzerias and Chinese ones do have enough space for both the ceremony and reception. The problem is you may not be able to invite all that you wanted to ask. At most many eateries can seat sixty. The wedding I witnessed had probably twenty people. If that's'' the case, then look for a larger place or have an open housefor the ones left out later on.Also remember guests won't be getting traditional food.Let them know that they'll be feasting on fun foods like hot dogs or pizza .It'll be a mix of formal ceremony with informal eating. Another issue will be drinking. Most smaller restaurants don't have liquor licenses. You'll have to bring your own and preferably just one kind like champagne for toasting.
There's nothing wrong with having a wedding at a hot dog joint or pizzeria. It's wacky , true,but it celebrates two hearts coming together. In the end,that's all that matters
It first started with the wedding cake. Gone were the traditional tiers of white frosting and the couple on top. In their place were now cakes made in the shape of sandcastles and hot rods. Then menus changed to involve sliders and cotton candy instead of the usually sit down dinner with cocktail hour . Then the entire venue changed from sedate but overly elaborate wedding palace to a couple's favorite beach or the pizzeria of their first date.Nowthe prospective bride and groom can have their weddings anywhere, from a Stewarts drive thru to their local doughnut shop. Strange , yes but also romantic and kind of cool.
If you are thinking about having your wedding in an unusual place , start planning. Most restaurants, even pizzerias and Chinese ones do have enough space for both the ceremony and reception. The problem is you may not be able to invite all that you wanted to ask. At most many eateries can seat sixty. The wedding I witnessed had probably twenty people. If that's'' the case, then look for a larger place or have an open housefor the ones left out later on.Also remember guests won't be getting traditional food.Let them know that they'll be feasting on fun foods like hot dogs or pizza .It'll be a mix of formal ceremony with informal eating. Another issue will be drinking. Most smaller restaurants don't have liquor licenses. You'll have to bring your own and preferably just one kind like champagne for toasting.
There's nothing wrong with having a wedding at a hot dog joint or pizzeria. It's wacky , true,but it celebrates two hearts coming together. In the end,that's all that matters
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