Your Easter Checklist

This is the week to go shopping for your  big holiday meal. It's a chance to decide what you'll have on Easter and what will work for your Easter Sunday brunch , lunch or dinner. Shop early  - you 'll appreciate it later on in a busy week.

As every home chef knows list making is crucial when planning any get together. Write down who's invited with a star or two next to people who have allergies or dietary restrictions. It'll make shopping easier. The second part is planning. Do you want a buffet brunch or a sit down dinner? If you're thinking about brunch, or you want to make a variety of  omelets or create a breakfast strata or casserole. Do you want to go  full out and include French toast or bunny pancakes for the kids?If that's the case  then you can start buying the  eggs  now. The bread can be bought the day before.If you're thinking about a sit down dinner then you can shop for  the ham or lamb now and freeze it. if Baked beans usually go with ham. This is the time to buy them  along with frozen dinner rolls and any canned veggies.It's also good to buy those aluminum roasting and baking pans too. It saves on washing after as well as expanding your arsenal of pans.. Grocery stores are also having pre Easter sales on Easter themed paper tablecloths and napkins.Snap these up too before they 're gone.

 Since Easter is a big baking holiday map out what you want to bake.If you're planning on making the classic Southern Italian wheat pie, then you're going to need wheat berries along with ricotta. The first is kind of hard to come by, You may have to go to a specialty grocery like whole Foods to buy them. If you're thinking about making a specialty cake, a rabbit , carrot or egg shaped one, then you will have to go to a store like Target or K-Mart for molds.Cakes for this holiday are usually plain chocolate or vanilla ones, with the occasional lemon or vanilla. What makes them special is the elaborate decoration. There's the question of homemade or canned icing. If you;re planning on homemade buttercream, then make sure you have enough butter sticks on hand. The same goes for cream cheese icing too Buy the sticks now and st\ash in the fridge. Home bakers can also do just as well with canned icing, Just make sure you have enough if you're making a large cake. Lamb and bunny cakes are the most popular ones at this time and they require a lot of flaked coconut to get that "fuzzy" look.Also make sure you have decorations like jelly beans, Peeps and chocolate eggs for cupcakes - and for after dinner nibbling too.

Now is the time to make the shopping lists and head to the store. Be prepared for all that cooking and baking. It'll make your Easter meal, whether , brunch ,lunch or dinner that much more easier.

Simply Ramen, Simply Good

Ramen soup sometimes get a bad rap. After all most people associate it with those brittle bricks of noodles with the flavor packet nestled inside.Yet it's so much more than that. Imagine fresh noodles in homemade broth along with the addition of meats and vegetables. Home chefs can, thanks to a new cookbook.

Simply Ramen (Race Point Publishers ) was written by Amy Kimoto-Kahn , a Yonsei or fourth generation of Japanese American (her great grandparents emigrated from Japan to the US). She gives us an entire cookbook dedicated to the soup which can be made not just for lunch and dinner but for breakfast too.Another plus comes at the end when she lists the best ramen houses in Tokyo too. Yet it's the recipes that bring good Japanese cooking into the home. There are other recipes too such as tamogoyaki, Japanese omelets,basic rice and a tasty cucumber salad with a seafood topping.. There's the surprise of a Korean potato salad  recipe along with pickled vegetables and beef and chicken croquettes topped with a funky ketchup- soy sauce mash up. What I like about the cookbook is the way that Ms. Kimoto-Kahn breaks the recipes down into sections, They're devoted to chicken, beef, pork and seafood as well as to veggies and spicy versions. there is also a section dedicated to the broths that make up the soup .It's shared with toppings (yes, ramen soup can have toppings) such as braised  pork, and marinated half cooked egg.

The book is a great how to for all those novice ramen makers.It is a labor intensive project that does require a pasta maker. however it's no difficult than making homemade spaghetti or linguine.The plus is that the noodles can be made in large batches and stored for future use. The dough is a mix of cake , bread and wheat flour along with a baked baking powder that can be easily made.Then there are the bases, Home chefs can choose from miso,  tonkotsu base,a blend of two soups, the soy rich shoyu base and the shio base. Chicken lovers can try the chicken meatball ramen made with nod to Ms. Kimoto- Kahn's husband's Jewish heritage of matzoh balls.There are lush recipes that involve Kobe beef and lobster along with new creations that feature crawfish and cheese. Vegetarians will love the all vegetables ones,from the nasubi  or simmered Japanese eggplant to the kabocha, Japanese winter squash served with tempura battered arugula.Pork and fish are also represented in such dishes as spicy pork tantanmen and furikake salmon. Home chefs can try the chilled ramen and cold broth for those hot summer days.

 Simply Ramen shows that ramen soup is not those bricks of tasteless noodles jazzed up with flavor packets. It's homemade noodles simmered in a homemade broth with toppings. Buy the book and start making your own tasty and fresh creations!

Spring Clean Your Cooking

With Spring coming, its' time to start cleaning up our cooking routines. Warmer days mean lighter meals that feature more green than protein. Gone are the days of heavy sauces and stews,of crockpot dinners followed by heavy pies and cakes. Think airy , think Spring.

One of the reasons lamb is so popular for Easter and Passover is that it's a lighter meat. Of course, Spring is a the time of lambing when the young sheep are born. Yet the sweet tender flavor is a far cry from. the heavy beef and pork roasts that we've been eating all fall and winter. Consider serving leg of lamb for Easter. Make it Mediterranean style, studding it with garlic cloves or creating a garlic  lemon marinade ,using an entire head of garlic, along with  lemons , rosemary and parsley. You could also create a parsley pesto, made the same way as basil pesto to serve with it or with lamb chops. Capon is another great idea for a Spring get together. Sizewise  it's between a chicken and turkey and chicken and is primarily sold by butchers and not your local grocery. The flavor is less gamier than regular chicken which makes it a lighter tasting meat.Chicken, itself, is a great Spring dish, It's easier to prepare and cook , along with working well with seasonal veggies such as asparagus. This last will be seen all over supermarkets in the upcoming weeks. A favorite dish is  steamed asparagus , topped with melted  butter, or margarine and sliced hard boiled eggs. The stalks can be grilled too, with just a coating of olive oil and lemon.

Baking takes a lighter turn too. Gone are the heavy  buttercream rich cakes and fruit laden pies of colder days. Many home bakers turn to the airy and light angel food cake for a dessert treat.It's made primarily of egg whites along with almond and vanilla flavorings. Its' light airy texture is a perfect foil for the first berries of the season. Serve slices of the cake with strawberries and homemade whipped cream. As for the yolks, think zabaglione, the ethereal custard, made with them along with sugar and Marsala. You could also serve it with the cake.Another use for egg whites are meringues, the quintessential Passover dessert. They're a great treat for any holiday or Spring gathering. Many novice home bakers do have qualms about making them. Meringues can be temperamental depending upon the level of humidity.(try baking them on dry, sunny Spring days) They usually turn out OK if baked and cooled properly. The trick is leaving them in a cooling oven for entire hour  after baking. This will ensure they won't crack. 'A fun Easter dessert is lemon bars. This classic recipe is another easy bake.with a buttery crust and tart topping with a dusting of confectioner's sugar. It'sa fave with both kids and adults looking for a refreshing change from all that chocolate.

It's time to Spring clean your dishes. Think light and airy tastes and textures for the season again.Cook and bake dishes that reflect  sunny balmy days ahead.

Egg-Centric Spring Desserts

One of the allures of Spring baking is that it uses basic  ingredients to create ethereal desserts.Gone are the heavy caramel, chocolate or nut laden sweets of winter,Summer is yet to come with it;s' variety of fruits Home bakers must use what's in the cupboard and that means the basic like the egg. It's versatile . and can be used in a variety of different sweets.

Melissa Clark wrote about this kitchen must have in yesterday's New York Times Food section. as she puts it eggs can be whipped into a froth from a liquid.They can be soft and trembly or solidly set.They can also leaven a cake or lighten it up, enrich it or thicken custards. Pastry chef, Thomas Raquel of the famed Manhattan restaurant, Le Bernardin agrees.He uses them , all year round, after all they're crucial in mousses,ice creams and pastries, however it's Springtime that he lets them shine. as the main ingredient.His Spring dessert menu includes an elderflower mousse,a tres leches cake and  appropriately an egg shaped dome filled with goat's milk mousse.The season brings about a longing for lighter desserts that are more fragrant and cleaner on the palate.Adding eggs are also more beneficial to textures too. Beaten ones can add an airy feeling when eating mousses and custards. They also can sharpen other flavors by lessening the need for butter and cream. They don't coat the tongue with a layer of butterfat which can dull flavors.


The recipes given are perfect for any Easter or Spring meal as well as being appropriate .Eggs were a seasonal food  with hens slowing down  or stopping all together to lay eggs when winter came. spring came with lengthened days, signalling to the birds to start laying again. Nowadays hens can lay eggs all year round thanks to the ever glowing electric bulbs in their coops.  Yet Spring and eggs are now forever linked with Easter, Passover and the vernal equinox. They represent the rebirth of the earth and all things green.It's seen in Easter cakes and breads along with Passover 's egg leavened nut tortes. The recipes offered are eggy  and light, great for ending any holiday meal. There is chocolate pavlova with chocolate mousse. If you think this a a bit heavy, don't .The mousse is light  and airy, the cocoa just gives it somewhat of a punch, For a more custardy fare home bakers should try the Portuguese egg custard tarts, a lovely mix of a yolk rich cinnamon laced custard and buttery puff pastry (which can be bought). A great Easter dessert is the lemon angel food cake with the zing of preserved lemon curd. The sweetness is cut by the saltiness of the preserved lemon curd. This last was contributed by Samantha Kinkaid, of High On Hudson, a pastry chef known for infusing her meringues with dried carrots and beets.

Let the eggs star in this holiday season's baking line up. They will add a lightness and richness to any sweet ending, from mousse to custard tarts. It's a perfect way of welcoming Spring, with light , airy desserts

The Savory Allure of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is known for many things, Steel, bridges, Universities. Food isn't one of them. Yet in the few years this famed city may well become the Lyons of America. It is the hottest and most popular destination for foodies right now,surpassing even Manhattan for good restaurants.

Jeff Gordonier wrote about it in today's New York Times Food section. He visited the city known for Carnegie Steel and Carnegie Mellon University.The vibe of the city is changing. There are still marginalized areas however the town on the whole is on the upswing. Companies like Google, Uber and Facebook have relocated there, trying to scoop up  the latest tech grads from the city's major universities such as Carnegie Mellon Duquesne and a slew of several others. Another reason is that
 real estate is very cheap.Old storefronts  are now being turned into trendy eateries thanks to  chefs who can afford to  buy the property.It also helps to have good press. Zagat named Pittsburgh the number one food city in the country while Vogue proclaimed it a happening place to visit, even stating that New Yorkers are toying with the idea of moving there.. For chefs, though, there was
still  the problem of crime. Justin Severino who started Cure in the Lawrenceville section had to deal with prostitutes drug dealers and thieves. He stuck in there, though now  offering a trendy menu that has a tasting menu and salumi dishes.

Other chefs are following his lead, despite the fact that some  fo the older townspeople find the new dishes not to their liking or too foreign. Still ,many are adaptable enjoying  dishes  as wild boar and rabbit at eateries such as  Piccolo Forno, thanks to the culinary deftness of chef Dominic Branduzzi.Then there is a new concept, created by two young entrepreneurs, Ben Marica and Tyler Benson. These former Navy men have brought a kind of tech incubator to Pittsburgh's food scene. Their Smallman Galley consists of four kiosks in which different chefs showcase their their cooking for eighteen months. The neat part is the chefs pay absolutely no rent, The goal is to acquire a following and then go from there with it .. The creators see this as a way of catering to the young techies from Google and Uber who are also living in the area.It is a great symbiotic relationship guaranteed to boost Pittsburgh's standing and economy. However there are some chefs who have seen this happen before, namely in Brooklyn and San Francisco. The more popular a neighborhood gets, the more expensive it will be Rents rise , people move out , businesses either struggle or close.Others say give it five years and then see if Puttsburgh is still thriving according to Chef Severino of Cure.

Right now Pittsburgh is experiencing an explosion of good chefs and good restaurants, It's shedding its' old grey steel town image for a newer, more vibrant one,Will it be the Lyons of the New World? Quite possibly yes!

A Good Homemade Sauce

What makes a dish of spaghetti memorable? Or ravioli mouth watering.It's all in the sauce. A simple tomato based one can do the trick, except it's not so simple. Home cooks always say they have a knack for making sauce. It's not a knack, but what goes into it that makes good marinara or pomodoro stand out.

All sauces start out with a base.What is the best one? Fresh tomatoes or those canned ones? That actually depends on the time of year. The best season to use fresh vine ripened ones is the summer naturally. Some of the vine ripes now can be used. after all it's a fresher taste, perfect for a pasta primavera. Tomato paste still has to be used as a binder because the end result will be too watery. You can make it without it though but it won't be a thick sauce that will stick to the vermicelli or linguine. It is a great base for red clam sauce because you want something light that will complement the seafood.Many  home chefs rely on canned. It can be combined with  tomato paste to create a thicker texture. What are the best? Stop & Shop has an organic one  from their all natural Nature's Promise. he flavor is an even one, not too bland  not too intense.The one that home chefs recommend and rave about is Muir Glen Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes. One of the reasons why it's so popular is the can. It's made without BPA  in the can's lining. Others swear by Hunt, while purists demand San Marzano. This is my second choice for a sauce. Some say its' too acidic but I've never found them to be this.

The next step is what you put in it.Olive oil is a must and again it should be a good one. Always go with the extra virgin . There are other types such as light but this kind is tasteless. Garlic is another must. Go with about three cloves. They can be chopped or minced, depending on one's tastes. (however if you don't want guests or family complaining about  large , hunky pieces then mince).Use an onion too for flavor. Now the controversy  - sweetness or no sweetness. Many home chefs add just a teaspoon of sugar to temper the sauce. A few don't do this however it gives the tomatoes mellowness. A tablespoon of dark honey is the best sweetener.It adds a richness and another layer to it along with it being a all natural additive.Some home chefs use grated carrots too for this.That's up to you.  Every pomodoro or marinara has a dose of oregano in it. Use fresh in the summer and dried in the colder months. I usually use a generous amount, namely two to three tablespoons. Always add salt and pepper. I found that  even though I made the most perfect sauce (in my opinion) there will always be complaints if those seasonings aren't added.

There is no knack in creating the best sauce.It's what you put into it that counts. It's not alchemy, It's chemistry  using the right ingredients to create a memorable pasta dish.

Segovia Steakhouse:The Best Of Iberia

New Jerseyians know that if you want  good good Spanish or Portuguese influnced food you have to trek down to Newark's Ironbound area. However there are good Iberian centric restaurants studded throughout the Garden State. Segovia Steakhouse is one of those ,located in LittFerry in southern Bergen County. It's a true taste of the Ironbound, from the menu to the energy.

The restaurant  spun off  Segovia Restaurant in the next town of Moonachie. Both are owned by Manny Martinez and Tony Treus. The original eatery has been in existence for the last thirty years and is a staple in the area.It's an elegant place in the middle of a Manhattan bedroom town. (New York City is only a scant nine miles away). It's a nice place  featuring paellas and seafood however its' the steakhouse that 's now the star. It's a busy, buzzy wild place on a Saturday night. Situated in an elegant looking Mediterranean building that's painted a terra cotta orange, the restaurant is located in Little Ferry, only a block in from Route 46 , one of the county's main arteries. Unfortunately Segovia doesn't take reservations, the only drawback because the place is packed to the gills on a Saturday night. Waiting can be anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour depending on your arrival time.Another drawback is the small parking lot but luckily the TD Bank next door is generous with theirs.

The wait and the crowds are worth it. The dishes are phenomenal, fragrant with saffron and garlic. Segovia offers tapas  (s does the Moonachie one) that features grilled chorizo,pinchos, marinated pork cubes and pulpo feria, paprika laced octopus.  Segovia  is a steakhouse first and foremost and it doesn't disappoint . A friend had their Porterhouse which could have fed three people. It was accompanied by a scant portion of veggies. There is also a skirt steak with the famed green sauce churrasco..All dishes come with a side of saffron rice and crispy homemade potato chips so good dipped in the sauces that come with the meals. My favorite is the pollo ajillo. This is a heavenly blend of chicken tenders with sauce of garlic and peppers in a buttery sauce.It was heavily spiced but delicious dish, especially the sauce which was also good sopped up with hot crusty rolls. I will definitely go back for this along with the arroz con pollo. Other tasty dishes are the arroz con camarones, a shrimp studded rice dish and pollo castellones, chicken with artichoke.The shrimp and rice was also amazing, fragrant with saffron and loaded with plump shrimp. Even though the dishes were more than filling ( diners can definitely leave with doggie bags) there us room for dessert. Yes Segovia features traditional flans but it's the chocolate cannoli with dark cheery sauce that steal the show (this could be a nod to the town's mostly Italian population. The tres leches cake was a nice mild ending to a highly spiced dinner.

If  you're craving good Spanish and Portuguese food then head to Segovia Steakhouse in Little Ferry ,New Jersey, The dishes are traditional , celebrating Spain and Portugal along with large platters of steak, Head over there for a phenomenal dinner.