The First Cookbook Issue Ever

Cookbooks play an important part in any home or even professional chef's arsenal.They not only provide inspiration for meals, they also broaden horizons.They teach home chefs new techniques and introduce them to ingredients they've never tried before.Now the New York Times has created the first cookbook issue. They review and recommend cookbooks  that would be perfect in any kitchen.

Fall 2016 has some culinary celebrities coming out with some interesting compilations. Alton Brown, the Food Network's genius has Everyday Cook . Fans may be disappointed  that it's not full of puns that he's famed for. It's a more introspective book, as Food regular contributor Kim Severson wrote.it reflects his midlife crisis of going through a divorce, drinking and eating too much peanut M&Ms. His recipes are cozy, the kind you'd make for family and friends. There are warm Saltines brushed with dried mustard,hot sauce and butter along with a unique but delicious breakfast carbonara that marries spaghetti with breakfast sausage and eggs.Mr. Brown not only has a cookbook out but also a one man show called "Eat Your Science." Another celebrity with a new cookbook is British chef and radio personality, Diana Henry/ Ms Henry has written "Simple Effortless Food, Big Flavors, Tejan Rao, another regular contributor describes her recipes as having very little instruction because they're so precisely worded. A yogurt marinaded chicken has only three neatly worded paragraphs on how to prepare and cook it.It also includes how to dress a salad too. A recipe for Greek style beans is terse for a recipe that takes exactly one hour to make.

Yet another contributor, Margeaux Laskey reviewed Poole's by Ashley Christensen, a cookbook featuring the best recipes of here famed diner in Raleigh, North Carolina.This is not your ordinary diner food. This is home recipes with an artesinal twist. She calls for roasting and pickling peppers and making cider vinegar mayonnaise .The book has some homey recipes like macaroni au gratin and a warm broccoli salad with a bacon vinaigrette. The piece de resistance is the famed sweet potato hummingbird cake.It's a  fruity, spicy confection topped with a light cream cheese buttercream icing. Chopped peanuts top it.Newcomer Oliver Strand writes about Jessica Koslow's new book, Everything I  Want To Eat: Squirl and The New California Cooking which has the best recipes from her whimsically named restaurant, Squrl.It's a mash up of diner and health food combined with Michelin starred eateries.The style is raw and direct, not much on words as usual cookbooks are.The exotic is also featured. David Tanis reviews Naomi Duguid's book Taste of Persia that features herbed yogurt soup along with fish kabobs made with Alaskan baked cod and tomatoes.

Cookbooks are the best tools in any chef's arsenal. This fall there are more to add. Go for the exotic , or try the homey. They are all informative and fun.

Mini Pasta Maximum Fun!

Mention pasta and everyone's minds turns to spaghetti, maybe linguine or angel hair if they're
 a bit more sophisticated. Yet there's a whole selection of mini pastas that pack great flavor. Use these with traditional sauce for a tasty hot dish or in salads for a cool side at a barbecue or tailgate party.

Pasta comes in many shapes and sizes. The smaller sized varieties can be turned into any dish. A favorite is acine de pepe, translated  grains of pepper in Italian. .These are basically spaghetti minced into small pieces. It's a wonderful alternative to the star shaped pastina and cooks up into fat little kernels.It's great in any broth such as vegetable, beef or chicken, Put more than a cup in and it makes a filling dinner. To turn it into it more substantial serve it with any sauce that would go with spaghetti or ravioli. It makes a nice meal for one, especially served in a butter sauce with a sprinkle of Parmesan. Serve it with marinara and meatballs for a fun kid's meal.Acine de pepe can also be used in soups and is a staple in the classic Italian wedding soup. It can also grace  minestrone too and be a nice  change of pace in a chicken noodle soup. The little pasta  bits can be used in a salad for a spin. Try it with sliced grape tomatoes and parsley for a nice side with burgers or grilled steak. Mix it with tuna, chopped celery and onions for a twist on the classic tuna salad.Acine de pepe can also be used in fruit salads with pineapple chunks and orange wedges.

Orzo is another mini pasta that can be served hot or cold.It comes from the Latin hordeum or barley and can be the base of many dishes.It can be a main dish or a side.Many home chefs use it instead of rice as the Greeks do, and it's usually the base of many pilafs. Try it with Parmesan and basil for a quick and tasty dinner.It's made similar to the way risotto is cooked. Saute the raw pasta in butter until lightly browned  and then add the chicken broth.It can also be turned into a variation of risotto Milanese with the addition of saffron.Orzo is perfect paired with chicken and blends well with any green veggie such as spinach and broccoli. The orzo grains are also a fun change in any soup that calls for noodles. Even add it to tomato soup for a nice surprise.Like acine de pepe, it can also make for a great cold salad. Try it Greek style with sliced cucumbers,kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese.Artichoke hearts, parsley, and lemon juice are also added  to make for a lively flavor.For a colorful side make a checkerboard orzo salad with goat cheese and cubed tomatoes.A truly filling orzo salad is one made Nicoise style with tuna in oil, artichoke hearts and arugula. Red onions and bell peppers are also tossed into the mix for color and bite.

Mini pastas such as acine de pepe and orzo are little pastas that guarantee big flavors. They are fun and versatile,perfect for any main meal or side. Try them and see what a big impact they'll make.

Your Own Boulangerie

One of the best aspects of living in France is the fresh bread.It's in all shapes and sizes, tastes and flavors. Imagine having a fresh loaf in your kitchen, whether slathered with jam for breakfast or accompanying a lunchtime soup. Imagine having a sandwich made with brioche or a chocolate  or almond roll for dessert. You can. Baking French bread is not impossible.It's doable, even for novice home bakers.

What is a baguette anyway?It's a long narrow loaf of just bread flour , sugar and water along with salt and yeast. There is no egg or butter which would weigh it down.The yeast and sugar are whisked into a cup and a half of warm water.Add two cups flour, stirring with a wooden spoon. Two and a half teaspoons of salt is stirred in as well as to to two in a half more cups of flour. The salt can be omitted for those on a low sodium diet or halve the amount. It shouldn't alter the taste that much. The dough should be kneaded for about eight minutes on a lightly floured board or table until smooth and elastic.It's left to proof for an hour and half before being shaped into loaves.Put them on a lightly greased sheet pan for another half hour of proofing. They can be given a shiny glaze with a wash of beaten egg yolk. Bake for thirty minutes or until golden , then let cook on a baking rack.The recipe can be varied for sourdough and whole wheat .Boulangerie's also sell boules, those round breads that are perfect sliced for a sandwich or gracing French onion soup. The recipe is relatively the same as the baguettes, the only difference is that the top is brushed with melted butter to give it a burnished brown crust after baking.

Croissants and brioches are also sold in boulangeries. Croissants can be a bit intimidating to any home baker. at first. Remember it does take time to perfect this buttery roll so don't be discouraged if the first batch comes out a bit wonky.The recipe calls for a lush one and a half cups of butter along with three tablespoons of sugar. It's also made richer by the addition of both milk and cream that has to be warmed.It's a lot of rolling and folding along with keeping the butter and dough cool. If the butter starts oozing out of the dough , then everything has to be placed in the fridge. After the croissants are formed have to be popped into the fridge for another fifteen minutes and then given an egg wash before baking.The dough can also be used for pain au chocolat, that heavenly marriage of crisp buttery layers and dark chocolate.Almond croissants are also big  and again this is an easy recipe, using already made croissants and filling them with a homemade almond "jam". Boulangeries also sell brioches, those eggy, buttery rolls .Again these are yeast driven and have a spongy texture,The recipe can be labor intensive because the butter used has to be room temperature, not too cool and not too warm. The recipe can be turned into a loaf bread, now popular here in the US.

Any home baker can turn their kitchen into a boulangerie.Try baguettes one week and croissants or brioche the next. There's nothing like fresh delicious French breads right from the oven!

The Rosh Hashanah Feast

The fall holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are arriving in the upcoming week. It's a  time of celebrating the new year as well as atoning and fasting.. The first holy day is a day of feasting , and wishing prosperity to others.Families and friends get together to enjoy a meal as they welcome in another year

A must for the holiday is having something sweet at the table. One of the most traditional dishes is apples dipped in honey. This was taken from 12th Century Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe and is widely accepted worldwide.Pears could be used too, as they're in harvest right now. Many first courses combine the savory and sweet. Melissa Clark marries chicken with figs for her holiday main course as seen in her A Good Appetite column in Wednesday's New York Times Food section.She also gives it bite thanks to Serrano chiles added for color and heat. Many home chefs pair chicken with pomegranates. The last represents fertility and prosperity as well.Fish heads are also served. This symbolizes the prayer "Let us be the head and not the tail." Gefilte or stuffed fish can be served however the tradition can be bent. Try pesce al Ebraica, fish cooked in the Jewish tradition.It''s taking any white fleshed fish such as cod and haddock, Sole could be used too.It's making a marinade out of olive oil, honey and vinegar along with salt.Raisins and pine nuts are then scattered over the fish and its' baked for only twenty minutes. Parsley is then sprinkled on it.

The holiday meal is also about sides as well. Honey glazed carrots are always a Rosh Hashanah staple. They're  the easiest to make,it's first simmering the roots in water and then cooking them in a glaze of honey , butter and brown sugar. Cinnamon is added for spice as are raisins.Carrots can also be turned into tzimmes,This stew also highlights yams and sweet potatoes along with  dried apples and cranberries Chopped pitted prunes are another ingredient that gives the dish color., Black eyed peas are also traditional and add a nice nuttiness to the holiday feast. Serve these just with melted butter or margarine. Spinach is another new year's food. Served just boiled with salt and margarine.A more refreshing way is having it fresh in  a salad, along with eggs, pomegranate seeds, and walnuts. Dessert plays an important part too. Regular contributor to the New York Times Food section, Joan Nathan lent an  apple cider honey cake recipe, coming from Chef Alex Levin of Washington's Osteria Morini. It's his grandmother's who was Craig Claiborne's expert on Jewish cuisine,It's made with apple cider butter, a homemade mix of butter, Granny Smith apples, apple cider, butter and brown sugar. The cake recipe has the extra filip of whiskey. The finished product is simply dusted with confectioner's sugar and served.

Rosh Hashanah is the new year coming in. Celebrate it with traditional and symbolic foods. Enjoy with family and friends.

Voici Des Francais

The French have the best of everything, food , wine and fashion. We see their lives as the greatest, filled with croissants and champagne, Jean-Paul Gautier and the House of Chanel. Yet there's another side of France that also exists - and a new book chronicles this.It's an eye opener for those who love Gallic ideas and l'alimentaire.

 Olivier Magny , a wine expert, entrepreneur and author has just written a  sharply witty guide to understanding all things Gallic, WTF - What The French (New American Library Publishers 2016) opens up a world of life in the City of Light and the Country of Fine Dining Monsiuer Magny has written about every aspect of life, from phrases such as ca va (used a lot) to the French's blase attitude to nudity and cigarettes.Of course some of the most insightful observations come from the chapters highlighting food and wine.The chapter on supermarkets was both eye opening and interesting.I didn't know that the French frequented supermarkets as often as us Yanks do. Most travel articles show endless miles of open air markets called les marches, however it's the big box supermarkets that garner much of a French home chef's business. They do have a wine aisle which is unheard of here in the States  (American grocery stores that do sell wines  usually locate them in a small corner that has its' own entry and exit) along with a generous cheese aisle.Unlike the States where grocery shopping is usually fun, the French see it through a dark lens, There's some guilt in going to a store that exploits farmers along with eating up the smaller, more charming food shops. The last still exists, thankfully and there are still butchers, along with patisseries  and bread bakers.

M. Magny also delves into the french passion for yogurt (!) and Nutella.It comes as another surprise that the country who  gave the world creme fraiche is so hung up on yogurt. It usually us Americans who have cups and popsicles of the stuff in our fridges and freezers.It's caught on there, probably  thanks to Danone, the parent  company of Dannon Yogurt. All fridges have a cup or two. The French have high standards for it, and French yogurt can be seen as healthy or as a dessert - that's how good it is.They even add powdered sugar to the plain one or yaourt nature , mostly to end a meal. The second obsession is Nutella. Anyone born in the mid Seventies and up grew up on the chocolate hazelnut blend.It's put on everything, from croissants to crepes to bread. The passion does ebb as they get older and then it's something to try on holiday. .The French still have their passion for bread, especially the baguette. There's also chapters on fast and slow foods McDonald's is big  but so are kabob shops and boulangeries have expanded their menus to include sandwiches and lunch menus. The country still has a big restaurant culture but there's also a need to eat at home too. Home chefs do;t make fancy meals,preferring salad, pasta or even yogurt. The more elaborate meals are saved for Sundays and family gatherings.

WTF What The French is a fun romp through French life and culture.Olivier Magny has captured his people's quirks and love of food and wine. It's the perfect gift for the Francophile foodie! Vraiment!

Where Julia Lived And Cooked

Imagine living where Julia Child lived,That is any chef's and foodie's dream come true and it did for New York Times Food contributor, Julia Moskin. She spent time at La Pitchoune, Child's home in the south of France. What a great holiday, first with fabulous inspiration and second with a breathtaking countryside.,bursting with some of the best foods in the world.

How did Ms. Moskin score such a fantastic vacation? It happened through airbnb. The current owners put the Provencale farmhouse on the popular site.It was well worth it, especially to those who love and worship the famed chef. Many original artifacts are still there. There is still the plastic bin labelled "ail echlotes"for garlic and shallots.There are her cooking knives, sharp carbon steeled ones still in the wooden block that her husband Paul carved.Outside the house , though, very few traces of her remain. For all her celebrity , Chef Child was not a big thing in France,  Her great nephew Alex Prud'homme  confirmed this, with saying that southern France is notoriously laid back, not caring who she was. .Some locals do remember her, such as one of the elder butchers in a local butchery, even doing an imitation of her along with the chef , Mimi Brothier at Les Arcades in  Biot, France. Les Arcades was her favorite eatery, starting out as a canteen for local artists.Ms. Moskin ate here too, in following the chef's trail, enjoying pan crisped sardines,roasted peppers and a bowl of soupe au pistou,Provencale vegetable soup.

Of course, being in Julia Child's kitchen means cooking in it too. Ms. Moskind did just that , along with picking basil and thyme from the garden and buying from hat's left of small family owned shops (the area has been inundated with the big box national markets) The dishes she made were a Provencale white wine beef daube and Provencale potato gratin.The first will make a wonderful fall dinner. It's boneless  stewing beef marinated in olive oil and Cognac. A melange of vegetables are cooked separately. The veggies used are onions carrots and mushrooms, Later , they and the meat are combined along with tomatoes, white wine, bouquet garni and whole peppercorns. The entire dish is cooked for three to four hours  until the meat is ultra tender. Orange zest is added at the end and then the daube can be poured over pasta or rice. The other is a gratin but made with a true Provencale ingredient, anchovies. Tomatoes and onions, again the pillars of southern French cooking, are also used, being cooked together in a kind of marmalade to spread on one layer of tomatoes. The next layer is spread with the fish, pounded with olive oil to form a loose paste. Grated Gruyere or Parmesan - Reggiano is sprinkled on the last layer to give it a nice, crispy finish.

Living in Julia Child's Provence house is a  chef's and foodie's dream come true. It was an inspiration to Ms. Moskin as she created the chef's famed dishes. It was the ideal vacation, definitely full of flavor  and memories.

Restaurants That Change The World

Restaurants are an important part of our culture.They are responsible for foods trends and introducing international  cuisines to communities . There's a new book celebrating them and their impact on the American diet, featuring some of the US's most famous eateries.

Food critic and regular contributor, Tejal Rao wrote about this great new book featuring  the most influential restaurants in today's New York Times Food section. "Ten Restaurants That Changed America" (W.W. Norton and Company Publishers) was written by Paul Friedman who is surprisingly a medieval history professor at Yale University. He took on the massive task of researching two hundred years of restaurants , culling through hundreds of thousands of restaurants to culminate in the top ten. The list spans the 19th and 20th Centuries and the American continent. One of the first and most famous is New York's Delmonico, the city's most famous eatery. It started in 1827 as a French pastry shop by the Swiss born Delmonico brothers. They were the first and the most instrumental in bringing a sit down restaurant to a city full of oyster stands and rowdy , boisterous taverns that served just basic dishes., It was the first restaurant to import foods, namely truffles from the Dordogne region of France. Delmonico's also was one of the first to use local fish and turtles caught from the Eastern seaboard. Their menu was the gold standard for all French restaurants for one hundred years.

Chain restaurants such as Howard Johnson''s and Schraft's also changed American eating and paved the way for fast food giants such as McDonald's and Wendy's. Howard Johnson's , still going and famed for their fried clams, pioneered the idea of franchise restaurants, They were also the first for strategic planning, situating restaurants along highways.The idea appealed to traveling families who didn't want to eat at the truck stops ,mostly populated by truckers and sales reps. Schraft's , also was an innovator, It started earlier , in the 1910's and was a Northeastern chain of candy stores. It added a lunch counter and seats, offering a new concept- dining options for unescorted women. Restaurants would not sit women without a male companion. Schraft's didn't believe in that. They also were the first business to hire women as waitresses along with giving maternity leave to pregnant workers.Other restaurants that made a difference were Mama Leone's, Alice Water's Chez Panisse , the famed Sylvia's in Harlem , the equally famed Antoine''s in New Orleans and The Mandarin. In one way or another they  have influenced generations of restaurant owners and chefs.

Restaurants have always been important in American history and culture. "Ten Restaurants  ThatChanged America" shows just that, how they influenced our eating and cooking habits.It is a fascinating read into how vital these eateries are to our psyche and image.