Redoing The Classics

Both ratatouille and cutlets are standard, almost classic home recipes. They've been made the same way since their invention. However both New York Times Dining culinary writers, Melissa Clark and David Tanis have put new spins on these recipes. They're a tastier and somewhat better alternative to the traditional ways of making them.

Melissa Clark totally remakes the French Provencale classic,ratatouille. Usually the melange of eggplant, tomatoes and onions are first sauteed and then  cooked  stew like in a garlicky olive oil until they're soft and tender.This is time consuming . Another quicker, and somewhat zippier method is roasting the veggies on  a medium fire  until they were well charred and tender.Italian or French bread is them sliced and also grilled until it's lightly charred and toasted.After the eggplants, peppers and tomatoes are cut into bite sized pieces and then put into a bowl. Olive oil , basil , thyme and lemon juice is poured over them and then mixed.Goat cheese is spread on the bread and piled high with this new version of ratatouille.

In his City Kitchen David Tanis, tries a more traditional, yet still innovative way of making cutlets.He tries it out with pork, but you can make them with turkey, chicken or the more used veal.Instead of using ready made breadcrumbs which can be dryer in texture, he takes day old French bread and makes crumbs from it. It creates a better texture and a better flavor as well.He suggests using olive oil for frying but you can also use butter and even a good lard . The trick to a flavorful cutlet is seasoning before and after frying and serve hot .

Ratatouille and cutlets alone or even together are great meal choices. Improve them with these new methods. of cooking. It[s a neat spin on traditional techniques.

Jersey's Best Dogs

Everything tastes better in New Jersey. That applies to our hot dogs as well. In New York , they;re just plain boiled  , sometimes served with a small blob of sauerkraut and that's it. Go across the Hudson and it's an entirely different affair. They;re plumper,t astier and best of all served with everything under the sun.'

Robert Seistsma got to experience an entire variety of Jersey style dogs at different stands throughout northern and central parts of the state (including a quick run across the Delaware to Pennsylvania) Most Jersey dogs are deep-fried ,giving that extra crunch and extra flavor.To be honest they taste better fried than boiled and it does bring out the flavor more.The Garden State dogs are a mix of both pork and beef too.There are different names for them as well such as The Ripper which is slit hot dog with a sweet mustard relish and The Texas Weiner, a hot dog with cumin free chili loaded on top.There is also the Italian Hot Dog which is really three dogs in hollowed out pizza bread.These are layered with potatoes, peppers and onions. Mr.Seistsma discovered a variety of dogs .All are tasty .At one stop in the westernmost Jersey town,Buttzville, he ate a deep fried ball park frank,lovingly garnished with mustard ,chopped raw onions and spear pickles.This would be usual in itself ,but diners had the choice of either birch beer or buttermilk to go with it. The jersey Shore ,known for its'quick food bites is also represented here too.Max's Famous HotDogs of Long Branch was also visited.Their hot dogs are huge and fat ,split down the middle.These can be eaten with bacon , or filled with cheese or chili, true meaty chili. The famed WindMill is also mentioned ,and they are know for their crisp tasty foot longs.The Wind Mill also has a deck where you can enjoy the dogs with an ocean view.Not known for any view however Newark is known for creating the Italian hot dog.This is not for the faint hearted It,s a sausage stuffed inside a loaf of Sicilian pizza bread.Elizabeth's Tommy 's Italian Sausage. and Dogs has an even more decadent one, stuffed with three deep fried dogs ,along with fried potatoes ,onions and peppers. If you want super dogs then come to Jersey.The Garden State has the plumpest and tastiest franks loaded with all sorts of great toppings.Stop at any of these stands mentioned here or any others and enjoy e dog of a lifetime!

Fall's Fruity Desserts

This is one of the best times of the year for baking .The weather is  blissfully cooler and perfect for making  all sorts of desserts.It's also the time for a variety of fruits such as apples and pears. Combine the two and you have a yummy array of delicious treats. There are enough recipes where you can create a different sweets every day.

Apples are the most popular fall fruit and they 're also the most used in desserts. The most commonly baked apple dish is pie of course, Everyone loves a home baked one but you can also vary it by making a pomme tartin, a French version of the American recipe.This is a layer of  sliced apples on a decadent buttery crust. You can also make it with pears or with another fall fruit, the fig as well. Baked apples are a tasty and quick treat. These can go adult with a sauce of red wine and butter or kid  with the apples being stuffed with caramel and nuts.This is also the season for an old fashioned apple cake.It can be baked as a regular old fashioned scratch cake or a crumb topped coffee cake.

Pears, figs, cranberries and grapes are other fall fruits that are great in desserts. Like the apple,the pear is the most versatile. It can be poached in wine for an elegant dessert or baked in a tartin for a more rustic one,You can also make pear strudel or have it oozing out of turnovers. Figs are another nice variation. These can be poached in honey or made into a cake with ground almonds. Grapes surprisingly can be made into a cake as well. Another fall standard, the cranberry  can be just as versatile. It can grace cheesecakes as well adding zing to oatmeal cookies You can also make a fluffy yet tangy mousse with cranberries too.

This is th eseason to get out the pots and pans and start using the fruits of the season. There are all sorts of delicious recipes to make with apples and pears figs and cranberries along with grapes. Try  a new on eof a family recipe to create a sweet treat for these crisp autumn days.

Hearty Fall Breakfasts

There's a nip in the mornings now.Gone is that balmy tropical air and he high temps.It's time to put away the summery breakfasts of just fruit or maybe a roll.It's time to bring back the heartier breakfasts.There 's nothing like a good ribsticking meal to start off a chilly autumn day. One of the best breakfasts is a traditional one.You can have bacon and eggs which is decadent and tasty.You can vary it by making a breakfast sandwich.Just add either scrambled egg or even a cheese omelet on an English muffin. finish it off with a couple of slices of pork roll or breakfast ham.If you're worried about the high levels of cholesterol, then swap the whole eggs for Egg Beaters and switch thereat to either turkey bacon or soy sausage.Even. The English muffin can be switched to a whole wheat kind.Another breakfast to warm you up is eggs with hash.The last you can make your own or buy the canned variety.For a fancier weekend brunch make the always elegant Eggs Benedict ,complete with a rich Hollandaise sauce. of course nothing beats a stack of pancakes for a hearty first meal.You can either go decadent or healthy.For decadent , think about adding chocolate chips and serve with whipped cream.For healthy go with any fruit, whether it be apples or bananas.IYou can also add flax seeds as well or almonds.Pancakes and waffles can be made with whole wheat flour too to make it healthier.You can also nix the maple syrup and try a dark honey.French toasts always Makes any breakfast special.Again you can make it heart healthy by topping ith with fruit.You can also "stuff" it with cream cheese or marscapone cheese along with adding any flavor jam or jelly. Now that it's fall ,start thinking of starting the day with hearty breakfasts.It's a great way to meet a chilly day .It's also a good way to start the work or school day too.

A New Season , A New Diet

What better time of year to change your diet than autumn. You can  rid yourself of the excesses of summer and gear up for the gorging of the holiday season. right now you can take advantage of what the farms  have to offer. There are many heart healthy foods out there  that are going to be fresh picked.It's also a good time to tweak your diet  and lower your cholesterol and blood pressure.

Fall means bounty and luckily there are a number of veggies out there that are ripe for the picking .  Kale and squash are reappearing in big numbers right  now. The first is one of the most versatile greens ever.It can be made into everything from a snack to soup to  salad. One of the most popular is kale chips - a simple recipe that just requires baking leaves until they are crisp and crunchy. Kale can also go into soups as well. Try it instead of spinach in an Italian wedding soup. Supermarkets are almost overstocked with squash. You can enjoy an acorn one, brimming with olive oil and garlic or a butternut one, cut into cubes or mashed.

Pears and grapes , other heart healthy and also cholesterol lowering fruits, are also gracing markets. You can just eat a pear plain but also try it baked. Add some low fat Greek yogurt sweetened with dark honey as a side. Black grapes are big right now as well. These can be added to sauces to give them sweetness as well as to salads. Black grapes or deep purple ones are perfect for making fresh grape juice as well as homemade jams (without all those preservatives.) Of course we all know that seasonal standard , the apple is big. There are so many varieties  to chose from, from Gala to Granny Smith.. These can easily be added to a salad to give it zing or baked with some cinnamon and wine for a simple but elegant dessert.

Fall gives us the perfect opportunity to eat healthy and change our diets. The bounty out there is rich and varied, ripe for trying out good for you recipes. Give any of these fall standards a chance and you'll not only eat well but be well too.

Fall Barbecues

Although this weekend heralds in Autumn 2013 , you can still eat like it's summer. There will still be warm and even moderately warm days when you can still barbecue. You can  cook outside even when there's a  chill in the air .In fact it's better  thanks to the cooling temps. Fall also  lets you experiment too with the produce of the season as well.

Thanks to Indian summer days you can still have your faves. There's nothing like hot dogs or hamburgers after a good football game. They'd be even good for an football get together. Now that most of the broiling days are over with you can also experiment  with slow cooking meats such as lamb or whole roasted birds. It;s also the time to try out different techniques too. You can try pulled pork or beef too. This is also the time to try barbecuing a whole turkey.It can be done and once perfected a nice spin for when Thanksgiving comes along.

Again just because it's fall doesn't  mean you have to give up your salads and slaws. For a transitional spin think about adding those  autumn standards, apples and pears to your salads. A tasty salad, is arugula, apples slices and walnuts with a sweet berry dressing.Another delicious one isa blend of pears , blue cheese and pecans with baby spinach. Kale is again starting to be seen again. A plain kale salad always a good side to beef or pork ribs. You can also try it  in a healthy slaw blended with cabbage.

Don't put away the grill and the picnic table because it;s fall. You still have two more months of great grilling and outdoor eating . Enjoy it with the cooler temps and still bright sunny days,

Romesco A Versatile Sauce

Not many sauces have versatility . Tomato sauce usually just goes well with pasta or rice. Bechamel can go with one dish , not another. Mushroom sauce can go with red meat but not dark. The classic Spanish  Romesco is not that It can liven up any piece of seafood  or vegetable.It's a great sauce for those who crave something different on their foods..

Melissa Clark wrote about it and experimented with it in her A Good Appetite Column in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.In a way this Catalan dish is not really a sauce  but more of a condiment  such as a chutney or ketchup. The ingredients are pure Spain, from the sweet Spanish peppers to the almonds. It usually graces fish dishes such as tuna  grilled shrimp or grilled lobster however it can also be used to enhance potatoes and even green beans.The true Spanish way is to  slather it on sliced  green onion slices called calcots. Ms. Clark uses it to highlight the flavor of raw broccoli.

Romesco is an easy side to make, much easier than ketchup or even a simple mayonnaise.The main part is broiling red bell peppers and garlic until they're charred. Add a charred tomato as well along with the paprika to color it. The binders are simple : honey and breadcrumbs. This gives the Romesco a nice thick consistency (think hummus) .You can vary it so that the texture isn't so thick and try variations/ Ms. Clark uses a pomegranate honey but a  regular dark or light one can do the trick as well.As for the breadcrumbs some Catalan chefs sub in sweet almond biscuits for extra sweetness.

Romesco sauce is a great way to livening  any vegetable or even piece of fish .Put it as a side for crudites or as a spread for late summer caught fish.It's a nice variation to the basic condiment,