Springy Sauces From San-J

The warm weather is here and that means barbecues and sauces. San-J, creators of gluten free soy sauce has come out with two zingy sauces perfect for the grilling season. They will liven up any cook out and give that special oomph to any meat or fish.

San Jirushi or San-J is one of Japan's oldest soy sauce manufacturers. The company was started in 1802 by the Sato family. Their sauces derive from ancient recipes for miso and tamari or soy sauce. Unlike American brands that dilute theirs with wheat which means there's also gluten in it as well. San J has always made the purest sauces using only one hundred per cent soy. This creates a richer sauce with a smoother flavor and texture. Now they're expanding into sauces - perfect for the upcoming barbecue season. Like the other sauces they are gluten free, perfect for those who suffer from celiac disease.The flavors are varied, from Thai Peanut to Mongolian to Szechuan. I like their sauces tremendously, especially for turning boring chicken and soy nuggets into exciting eats.The Sweet and Tangy has a tropical fruit taste , ripe with pineapple and the tang of garlic. The Orange sauce starts out with a burst of sweet orange followed by a nutty aftertaste. This is due to the addition of the fermented tamari sauce . Another reason to like both sauces is that they're made with organic ingredients like apple and pineapple juices for the Sweet and Tangy and orange juice and organic honey for the Orange Sauce.

Home chefs are going to go crazy over the many different dishes they can create with these two sauces.The Sweet and Tangy is perfect for any chicken recipe.Think kebobs marinaded in it
along  with extra pineapple juice for a sweet South Pacific treat.Marinate diced chicken, green pepper strips and pineapple chunks in the sauce foe two hours. Layer on six inch skewers and grill. Have a bowl of the Sweet and Tangy on the table too for dipping. You can also make Polynesian shrimp this way too.Another fun idea is having the sauce as a dip for  barbecued  jerk veggies, chicken and shrimp . can get a sweet spike from the sauce too. Pork is a great medium for  this sauce and the Orange Sauce. The pineapple juice or orange juice enzymes will be perfect in tenderizing the meat. Marinate a one pound  roast with half a cup of the Sweet and Tangy  before roasting. Orange sauce and duck go together and home chefs can make an exotic outdoor cooked  version of duck l'orange.Instead of making an involved  sauce use San-J's Orange. It can also be used on Cornish hens along with chicken breasts to create tasty, crisp and sweet barbecue.The sauce would also be good slathered on chicken wings and also as a dipping sauce for them.

The barbecue season is fast upon us . Try San-J's Sweet and Tangy and Orange sauce to liven up those kebobs and wings along with outdoor roasts.It's a tasty and exotic spin on American cook outs.

That Spring Favorite Asparagus

There are a lot of harbingers of Spring. The first robin, lighter clothing, picnics and asparagus. The last is everywhere now, indicating a time for lighter cooking and lighter eating. It's a wonderful side for any Spring holiday dinner as well as a nice accompaniment to any salad. Best of all it's versatile, going from a supporting player to star with ease.

Asparagus is an ancient plant with the Egyptians first planting it 3,000 (!) years ago.It was also big with the ancient Syrians and Spanish.The Greeks and Romans ate it fresh while in season and then dried it for fall and winter cooking.In fact the last could be credited it for turning it into the first frozen food. Legions of Romans soldiers, under Emperor Augustus, hauled it to the Italian Alps to be frozen. They were dubbed "The Asparagus Fleet". The emperor even coined the phrase "faster than cooking asparagus" for quick action and it was one of the earliest recipes from Apicus.It fell out of favor during the Medieval Period but was a favorite again  of the French court. Louis XIV's mistress Madame du Pompadour to nickname them "love tips" and to make them trendy again in french dining rooms. Asparagus is high in the B vitamins, namely folate which makes it a great dish for expectant women who need the vitamin on a daily basis.The stalks are extremely high in Vitamins A and K along with being an excellent source of calcium.Unfortunately there is a side effect, namely
 strong smelling urine. How ever this is a small price to pay , considering all the benefits asparagus has to offer

It is in season now and ready to be turned into a variety of dishes. There is a caveat for home chefs. Try to get tender baby stalks. They become very woody and hard to chew as they get older.White asparagus, vastly popular in Germany and the rest of Northern Europe.is a little more tender but has the sale delicate, fresh taste as its' green cousin. One of my favorite recipes is simply boiling the stalks in salt water until tender for about five to ten minutes and  then drizzling them with melted butter or margarine followed by a heavy dusting of Parmesan cheese. Both are perfect in complimenting the stalk's fresh green sweetness. Asparagus can also be grilled.Marinade them first, usually in a lemon-olive oil marinade before putting over a low fire.It goes great with any grilled meat  from beef to chicken to even fish . The grilled stalks can also be cut into one inch pieces and added to a salad. Quiches get an extra  boost of sweetness and  freshness by adding a cup or two to the recipe. The veggie pairs surprisingly well with bacon, with each bringing out the other's flavor. Parmesan cheese can also be added for even more flavor.

Make asparagus a part of Spring cooking and eating. The stalks will go well with any roast or as the main player in a quiche or salad. Try them to experiences their fresh, green goodness!

Passover Classics

Passover will be here within the next two weeks and home chefs are wondering to go with classic recipes or new spins. There are recipes that straddle both. They have the traditional holiday dishes ingredients but are mixed and cooked in new ways. This creates tasty holiday dishes that adhere to Kosher dietary laws.

Melissa Clark and Joan Nathan wrote about these in yesterday's New York Time's Food section..ms Clark decided to give the traditional Passover brisket a rest in her A Good Appetite column. She opts for another cut from the cow's rear - a more tender and lighter beef tenderloin. A  London Broil cut can also be used too.It only takes thirty minutes to cook up instead of the usual two hours.The sauce with it is a homemade garlic aioli but you can also used bought mayo too.The first is a fresher version made with one whole egg along with a yolk of a second one along with lemon juice for emulsion. . Horseradish is a must on the Passover table and once again Ms Clark changes it up.She replaces the traditional with beet horseradish, a vibrantly magenta topping for the beef. The root has a barely standable flavor as is so the beets add a much needed shot of sweetness.They are grated together and then chopped, pickled with white wine vinegar sugar and kosher salt.It can not only be served with the beef but also with Hillel sandwiches and gefilte fish, along with even tuna, turkey and roast beef sandwiches.

Gefilte fish is another Passover standard however it 's not always the top of the list. Contributor Joan Nathan knows this and offers a spin  on it. She created a very flavorful patty, a complete turnaround from how it 's usually made. The dish came from Eastern European Jews  and is usually made with lake carp., whitefish or pike. Traditional recipes call for the fish carcass to be stuffed with its' meat mixed with matzoh meal and onions. Eggs are used to bind everything together and then it's stuffed back into the fish. Ms. Nathan takes a modern approach to this. The usual white fish is mixed with other scaled and finned fish in accordance to Kosher law.Fatty fish such as salmon, striped bass even trout can be thrown into the stuffing, She eliminates the fish stock that they simmer in and replaced it with a vegetable court bouillon infused with colorful and fresh herbs such as tarragon, dill , parsley and chives. The court bouillon is made with the highly flavorful fennel, celery another onion and carrot. This will infuse the patties with a fresh garden flavor. Another plus of this recipe is that the patties only take twenty minutes to simmer up as opposed to the two long hours for traditional gefilte fish. The result is a firm yet tender patty that won;t fall apart while cooking.

Passover demands traditional dishes. However the tradition can be changed up to create tasty dishes that will highlight the holiday. Try these to create new traditions and new favorites.

Open To Sesame

\Mention sesame to most  Americans and they'll automatically think of a decorative topping for a hamburger bun. Mention the same seed to people from the Middle East, Turkey or Greece and they'll think tahini or halvah. Now it's becoming big stateside

Julia Moskin wrote about this extremely versatile seed in today's New York Times Food section.Sesame seeds can be turned into tahini if crushed or into the classic sweet halvah if mixed with sugar.It was long looked down upon as poor people's food, a treat for those who could not afford expensive pastries made with butter white flour and sugar. However Isreali, Turkish, and Greek chefs, long familiar with both are using both to create interesting main dishes and desserts. It is grown around the world and was one of the first plants cultivated for is' oil.It grows primarily in hot weather climates such as China, India, Myanmar and sub saharan Africa.Black sesame paste is used in East Asia, mostly for sweets.it creates a sugary inky black soup and is being used by trendy Japanese bakers to create elegant dove grey cheesecakes and chiffon cakes.Sesame is a part of the Chinese New Year treat jian due, fluffy rice balls coated in golden sesame seeds.Indians turn the seeds into brittle and candy balls for winter snacking. They're considered warming in the ayurvedic tradition Africans brought them to the american South where they're still known by the Bantu name benne, where they're made into melting savory crackers.

Home chefs too are fully embracing both  as they now crave Mediterannean and Middle Eastern foods.Hummus lovers already have been introduced to tahini. It's one of the ingredients in the chickpea dip.It gives foods a salty nutty under taste that actually works just as well with dessert recipes. In a way tahini is similar to peanut butter with grinding an oily seed or nut until the solids are minuscule enough to form a smooth, silky emulsion with the oil.Halvah also has the sesame seed paste  but it's blended with boiled and whipped sugar foam  to create a fluffy , feather light melt in your mouth treat/. Ms Moskin gives interesting recipes with the article. Home chefs can try it in salted chocolate chip cookies. It creates a different kind of cookie , one with savory notes that work well with the dark chocolate/ There is also a halvah semifreddo, a delicious mix of halvah, pistachios and whole cream frozen in a loaf pan.Another recipe is a fun candy like mix of Rice Chex or cornflakes, tahini and milk chocolate melted and mixed together to form crunchy  sweet rounds. These can be crumbled and sprinkled over ice cream too. For those who cannot get enough of halvah try the Greek pasteli, soft wedges of  sesame seeds, thyme honey and orange made for thousands of years on the island of Kea. Halvah can be bought on line and in different flavors such as chocolate and pistachio.

Sesame seeds are not just for decorating hamburger buns. They can be turned into a creamy sauce used for both savory and sweet dishes  as well as a feather light candy. Try tahini and halvah to experience a different side of the seed,

The Cooking Channel A New Passion

The Cooking Channel should be every foodie and home chef's obsession. It has neat shows that are both informative and fun along with entertaining hosts. The channel is everything food and snack lovers enjoy. It truly is a tasty treat.

I happened upon it one night when there was nothing on. Now it's  a Monday night must. One of my favorites is the back to back episodes of Unique Sweets.This is a neat show , with a variety of different hosts tasting and sampling their way through every bakery , candy and ice cream shop in America. Along with highlighting cruffins (a croissant and muffin hybrid) to cake pops.They cover every sweet corner of this country from pie shops in California to creameries in Maine and the best part is that the shops don't offer the usual fare. There are the turquoise-y Blue Velvet cupcakes found in Bay Ridge Brooklyn to that Californian pie shop that features beet (!) pie and a pie layer cake.  Foodies and home chefs will love that the sweets featured have their recipes on the site Another plus is that the hosts are quirky and as fun as the treats themselves.What follows is another fun and informative show is Unwrapped 2.0 with the former child star. Alfonso Ribiero. I always liked the first Unwrapped but unfortunately the Food Channel dropped it. This new version is livelier with the same neat facts as the original.

The Cooking Channel has other shows and celebrities that The Food Channel doesn't feature all that much.. Alton Brown is here as is Roger Mooking who so graciously granted an interview to this blog a couple of years ago. Tiffani  Thiessen has a cooking show too with her Dinner At Tiffani's, a celebrity packed show with good old fashioned recipes. This is a great show for novice home chefs who are planning their first big dinner party. It really is a watch and learn half hour.The channel also features a series of minute or two minute shorts called 'You're Eating It Wrong" which has certainly opened my eyes to some veggies and meat dishes.Host Dan Pashman  shows viewers how to eat almost everything , even chips and burgers to get the maximum flavor and texture from them.Chefs who have since left us for that great kitchen in the sky  such as Julia Child, Graham Kerr and The Two Fat Ladies, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Patterson are also shown .It's a nice homage to them and allows younger home chefs to see the during their glory days..These were the ones who blew fresh air into dusty and dull kitchens around the globe.The channel also has a daily blog on their website that's crammed full of ideas and recipes.It's worth taking a look at for dinner and baking ideas.

The Cook Channel is a must see for any home chef or foodie. It's fun and lively , a truly delicious treat. Watch it for a taste of  something different and exciting.

News From London

The British have given the world good chefs . There were the Two Fat Ladies, Nigella Lawson, Tamasin Day-Lewis and Jamie Oliver. Now a new and fresher generation of  chefs and food bloggers are making their mark -and a healthy one at that too.

Surprisingly it was the Sunday New York Style section that featured them (as opposed to the Wednesday Food section) with a write up by Marisa Meltzer. Unlike the British chefs that ushered in a new century of British cooking, these offer a fresher, more organic spin on cooking and baking. It's reflected in some London foodie hot spots such as  26 Grains, an artisanal porridge shop and the cold pressed juice bars that are popping up all over the capitol  city. These young women, sometimes nicknamed "queens of green" and dubbed "Superfoodies" by the Telegraph promote a dairy free , plant based diet, chock full of of fresh picked produce. This is a far cry from Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Patterson, The Two Fat Ladies who cooked with copious amounts of red meat, sugar and fresh whole cream. They don't rely on processed or frozen foods as Jamie Oliver did when he was their ages. It's healthier,  and maybe to a few critics  - not as flavorful. Yet Britain is embracing them, and this new crop hope the US will too.

Who are these dietary Emiline Prankhursts? There is Ella Woodward, daughter of Sainsbury  food store scion, Camilla Sainsbury and British politician Shaun Woodward. She and her fianceegolfer  opened up Mae's deli where she can sell her sweet potato (!) brownies . They also have ground almonds, buckwheat and raw cacao in them, Getting on the healthy bandwagon are the sisters Helmsley, Jasmine and Melissa whose signature dish is a cauliflower crust pizza with Parma ham, arugula and Parmesan shavings. They're also big on the spare but nourishing Paleo bone broths too.Jamie Oliver's former stylist is getting her due too. Anna Jones is the opposite of her former boss and believes in no meat ever. A strict vegetarian, she wrote "A Modern Way To Eat 200+ Satisfying Vegetarian Recipes That Will Make You Feel Amazing" which has twists on the veggie burger. Her signature dish is kale and coconut salad with miso and roasted tomatoes. Prince Charles' former assistant Amelia Freer is also getting England to eat better.as is restaurant heir Natasha Corrett. The first promotes forgoing processed and packaged foods while the second advises to  strive for alkaline eating to balance the body. That means cutting out corn, dairy , meat and wheat for  a more balanced diet.

England will always be known for lavish beef dinners and over the top sugary sweet desserts. However there's a new generation of cooks, entrepreneurs and food writers that are trying to change all that. Instead of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding followed by sticky toffee, there'll be Paleo bone broth and kale followed by sweet potato brownies.

Celebrating Outlander

As any Outlander fan can tell you the Scots know how to throw a party. The internationally loved series starts its' second season on Starz Chanell tonight at nine EST. .It's a wild ride through the French court and Scottish countryside.  What better way to celebrate than with a viewing party!

To be honest Scottish food doesn't really lend itself to parties.Luckily the two main characters, the ruggedly handsome and sharply witty Jamie and the smart, time travelling Claire start Season Two in  mid 18th Century Paris. This is where canapes come in . There can be a nod to Jamie's homeland by topping cocktail rye bread slices (these are the smaller loaves sometimes sold at deli counters) with smoked salmon and a sprig of dill.This can also take a French turn by switching the salmon for ham or French sausage . Another idea is making mini Croque Monsiuers for fellow fans . This is just making  sandwiches with ham and Gruyere cheese, quartering them and  then a quick fry in melted butter. If this is too rich , then think veggies and a simple vinaigrette dip. Jamie and Claire never traveled to the South of France  but they missed out on that Provencale treat pissaladiere, a kind of miniature  pizza topped with anchovies,pitted  olives  and onions.The onion puree takes about half an hour to forty minutes to cook up but the pies only take twenty minutes to bake. Wash it down with Jamie's beloved whiskey or better yet whiskey cocktails. End the evening with an Irish coffee, loaded with whipped cream (and make sure your fellow Outlanders don;t reach for a second).

If you still want to celebrate the Highlander way, you can with modified versions. Not many groceries in the States sell haggis,It has to be either homemade or mail ordered.It's made with sheeps offal or internal organs. A better take on it  is lamb burgers with neep chips. Neeps is the Scott vernacular for turnips which are the perfect root veggie for chips. These can be sliced wafer thin , drizzled with olive oil and sea salt and  then baked for twenty minutes. The same can be done with another Highland staple parsnips however the baking time is forty five minutes.Now for the bold culinary  move that even the Jacobites would have cheered on - add a few drops of whiskey to ketchup to create a  Highlander inspired condiment. Of course there can be sweets. You can  go with the light and airy macaroons , similar to the ones that the French royals munched on .These can be bought or made. The basic  recipe requires egg whites and almonds along with powdered and granulated sugar. These can be accompanied by that Scottish must have  - shortbread. Buy the buttery rich Walker's brand or make your own. You can even make the shortbread rounds , fork pricked with J's C's and F's - for the couple's last name Frasier, This last is from the French fraise, or strawberry. You can serve chocolate covered ones as  the episode ends.

If you;re a diehard Outlander fan, then celebrate the beginning of Season Two with a theme party. Knock back the whiskey, eat a few lamb burgers and cheer the Jacobites Go Team Frasier with good food and loyal fans.