A Special Cake For Mom

One of the best gifts is a homemade one for Mother's Day. Any mom would appreciate a tasty treat that she didn't bake. Think fun cupcakes or a daffodil cake. If she's into fruit than a great pie, or if she's fancy a plate of macarons with a ganache filling. There's a variety of sweets that can be created for mom's special day.

If you're not a pro at baking, then go for the mixes. Between the big three cake mixes, Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, you can make any kind of cake.Duncan Hines has introduced serving for one -  mug filled with either cake or bread. This is the easiest bake - just the mix and three tablespoons of water - - it just takes a minute in the microwave and voila - a perfect treat. She can have her choice of flavors from a decadent chocolate lover's cake to  banana bread. There's even one minute muffins, blueberry ,apple cinnamon and corn, in a mug too for a neat breakfast in bed. as for cakes and frosting , all three brands have not only mixes but frostings too. As for decorations Betty Crocker has these various sprinkles including Cupcake Gems that are gold and silver sugar crystals. Sprinkle these on a plain cake  to amp it up to something special.You can also have fun with the mixes too, thanks to the brands offering dozens of recipes on their sites. Try a poke cake with either pudding or Jello for a fun surprise or a skillet cake , layered with whipped cream and fresh berries.Pillsbury has a easy to bake ice cream cake recipe that just requires cake mix , ice cream and whipped cream.It's easy to assemble and decorate.

More experienced bakers can definitely whip up a scratch cake with no problems. One of the prettiest is the daffodil cake,  a marriage of angel food and yellow scratch cakes. The frosting is a mix of pineapple juice and Cool Whip which is a lovely , mild flavor to go to the cake. Of course , nothing beats the taste of a scratch marble cake. This would make a great dessert with a scoop of French vanilla or chocolate ice cream.It's also good just on it's own with an iced coffee and mom's favorite Sunday crossword. A homemade pie is always a nice gift.Supermarkets such as Stop & Shop and Acme are still selling Granny Smith and Fuji apples and these are the best for a homemade apple pie.  If you want something fancier then think a homemade lemon meringue with a slightly browned meringue crown. It's a great end to a Mother's Day barbecue. Another tropical tasting treat is a Key Lime pie, the perfect union of sweet and tart. What mother wouldn't like a plate of fresh from her oven macarons. Yoou can make them like the ones from the famed Ladueree Patisserie, with flavors such as chocolate, salted caramel and even rose water.Fill them with a rich chocolate ganache or almond buttercream for true luxury,

Nothing beats a homemade treat for mom's special day . Surprise her with home baked treat. It's a sweet way to thank her for she's baked for you.

Farm Fresh Desserts

Imagine desserts that are bursting with fresh flavor and fresh fruits of the season. It would be a different spin on classics and much loved treats. Thanks to a new cookbook , it's now easy to incorporate any harvest into tasty desserts and snacks.

Farm-to-table Desserts ( Skyhorse Publishing 2017) is an interesting cookbook written by Lei Shishak,best known for her Beach House Baking and Beach House Brunch.Ms. Shishak has written a book to cover all seasons which are delineated in her book. There are recipes for the four seasons that highlights the harvests of each particular one. right from the start she recommends heading to the local farmer's market.Her reasoning makes sense. Produce begins to lose its' nutritional value soon after its' harvested and continues to decline as time elapses. Fresh picked fruit and vegetables still have the highest amount of vitamins and minerals. She also explains why we should support our local farmers and buy from the farmers directly, giving them the full price. She also is a big believer in cooking and baking with organic fruit too. It  has no chemical pesticides and genetic modifications.
There's also a handy conversion chart for overseas home bakers too that converts tablespoons and teaspoons into grams and milliliters.

One of the best parts of the book is the recipes divided by season. For Spring home bakers can try such treats as maple creme caramel or rhubarb mint ice cream. Since late Spring is the time for cherry  and peach harvests there are the white peach and cherry crumble and apricot peach crostata. The summer and fall recipes really shine . A chilled cantaloupe soup would be the perfect end to a hot night of barbecuing, A homemade mango granita would be a great cool down during a heat wave.Every kind of berry is also featured and Ms. Shishak has a delicious recipe for a berry Pavlova, a yummy meringue filled with blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.Fresh mint decorates these elegant little bowls.Strawberry shortcake, a summer classic is turned into a roll with roasted (!) strawberries transformed into a jam, Fall brings roasted grape bruschetta and pear cake,baked with a cornucopia of  spices such as allspice cloves and cardamon, Yes, there's a baked apple recipe, and this time it has a homemade butterscotch sauce. Winter brings banana and lemon recipes like banana souffle,  and a Meyer lemon cake  both perfect for the holidays.

Farm-to-table Desserts is a must for any home baker longing to cook with fresh ingredients. It is chock full of recipes for any time of the year. They are delicious ways to enjoy organic fruit.

A Big Southern Do

Today is Derby Day  a big celebration in Kentucky where Southerners revel in the glory of the Kentucky Derby. You have to hand it to Southerners. They know how to do a party right - inspiration for us Yankee party givers. Do a do Southern style - with good food and good drink. Everyone will love it.

Biscuits, always a favorite , can make an appearance at s Southern themed party. Serve them with bacon ,pimento cheese, a favorite filling in sandwiches. Another idea is homemade tomato jam top with cheddar, sort of like an American's take on bruschetta. Tomato jam is easy to make .It's just taking whole peeled tomatoes and half a cup of sugar and cooking into a jam  boiled in a large skillet. A teaspoon of kosher salt is added to bring out the tomatoes' flavor. It's then cooked for about fifteen minutes until thick and jammy. Deviled eggs have always been a staple in almost every celebration and holiday. These are easy to make and can be decorated to look quite fancy. It's just taking the egg yolk and mayo mash and putting it into a cake icer with  small tip (Like a Wilton decorating tip - number 199). Swirl in the filling into the halved egg whites and then dust with paprika or finely minced gherkins.Okra is a big staple in Southern cooking, especially in Louisiana where it's used in gumbo. It can take on a modern twist as a popper. It's simply cutting the stalks into one half inch pieces and first soaking them in buttermilk. They then are rolled in a spicy cornmeal batter that's been spiked with cayenne and garlic powder.

Barbecue is a way of life down South and it too is always the star of many a party.May barbecues have a whole roasted pig . This may be too much and too labor intensive - after all - a pit has to be dug to accommodate the spit and coals. Ribs would be a better choice. They're easier to cook and eat.Marinate them in a spicy and tangy sauce that's laced with hot pepper sauce and sweetened with ketchup and brown sugar to create an interesting marriage of flavors.. Barbecue and fried chicken are also staples of Southernn home chefs. Again brown sugar is added to the chicken's barbecue sauce for that earthy sweetness while chopped onion and garlic gives it some zing. The recipe calls also for ketchup but tomato jam could be subbed in. A fun party food  is homemade fried chicken - what the South is all about. The best tasting ones start with a simple batter , consisting of just flour, eggs and a cup of milk. First  soak the chicken in the milk  and egg mix and then thoroughly coat with flour.Fry in lard for a truly authentic Southern taste.  A Southern do ends with peach cobbler or banana pudding.If it's fancy then bake a traditional hummingbird cake.It's a banana  - pineapple cake laden with pecans and cinnamon. It's iced with another Southern classic  - cream cheese frosting . Serve it with after dinner coffee laced with bourbon for a fantastic ending.

The South knows how to throw a party with good food. Create your own Southern do with tasty fried chicken and biscuits, or barbecue and hummingbird cake. It's what entertaining is all about.

Salsafy!

Today being Cinco de Mayo, and the emphasis is on all food Mexican. It's always so delicious with the variety of spices married to simple ingredients. Other recipes can certainly benefit from these ingredients and spices. Cooking Mexican style can definitely liven up any ordinary meal.

One of the most popular condiments in Mexican cuisine is salsa. Everyone usually pours it into a bowl and plunk tortilla chips in it. However no many know it can turn into a popping dressing. Mix a cup of  fresh or jarred salsa with a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar and three to four tablespoons of olive oil. Smoky paprika can be added for a different layer of flavor. If you want a smoother textured dressing pour into a blender or blend to smooth with an immersion blender. It'll be great with either a chicken or grilled steak salad. The dip can also be tasty in a frittata with the addition of chorizo and chopped sweet onion.If you want more zing , toss in some sliced jalapeno. Add some rice and black beans for a zingy brunch dish or a fun Saturday or Sunday night supper.Oregano, long a staple in Italian cooking is also a must have in Mexican. Its' aromatic scent and flavor can also add zing to cooked string beans with onions Try some sprigs in a white bean chili that's loaded with canalini beans , ground turkey and onions. Cumin is another spice prevalent in Mexican cooking. Many people associate it with Indian cuisine but it is also used frequently in many south of the border recipes.It's usually in taco and fajita fillings but could easily be added to homemade burgers and meat loaf for added zest.

Mole has always been misunderstood by many American home chefs.Mention adding chocolate to any main dish and watch them cringe or wrinkle their noses.Mole is simply a mix of unsweetened cocoa powder, dried garlic and cumin blended with vegetable oil and tomato  puree. Ancho, pastillo and chipotle peppers are added for fire. Chicken is the most popular meat served with it but it can also be ladled on roast pork or brisket. Shred both meats and serve them in soft or hard tacos for a fun weekday dinner.Grilled veggies such as eggplant and zucchini  can also benefit from this zippy sauce. Chili powder, one of the most well known of Mexican cuisine ingredients , is not only for a five alarm chili but for other dishes as well. It gives boring grilled shrimp a burst of flavor.It's simply brining the seafood in a mix of chili powder, sugar and four cups of water. The spiced shrimp is then sauteed in a mix of vegetable oil, garlic and ginger. Surprisingly the spice can also turn simple chocolate cupcakes into the culinary equivalent of fireworks. Just add a teaspoon and a half of dried
ancho chili powder to any devil's food cake mix or scratch recipe.It and cayenne can even be added to a cream cheese icing for more spark.

Salsify and satisfy tastebuds with the flavorful ingredients  of Mexican cuisine.They'll bring an exciting edge to any meal or sweet!

A Chef's Legacy

What will a cook leave the world? Phenomenal food? New recipes? Inventive techniques? That's what one chef, Thomas Keller of the famed French Laundry, is pondering. What is the next chapter of his life book of cookery.

Chef Keller proved to be an interesting topic of an article published in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Regular Food contributor , Kim Severson , interviewed him and talked to him about his future plans.French Laundry is one of the most famous restaurants in the world where dishes such as bread and butter are elevated to culinary heights. He also has created the famed Bouchon bakeries.He has also has designed pots and plates along with olive oil infused chocolates.Chef Keller also sells gluten free flour, Cup4Cup as well as silver clothespins at a store called Finesse.There is the problem of who will inherit all of this.He has no children or protegees.He has also created Per Se and Le Bernardin too, both famous and culinary trendsetters. He does sit on the board of the CIA - the Culinary Institute  of  America . He also started a mentoring program called Ment 'or to further culinary tradition of French cooking in America.It will also guarantee a win at the Bocuse 'd'Or, a competition  named for the famed chef, Paul Bocuse, and his mentor.

Some younger chefs find him  a throw back to the "Madmen" era of restaurants. Preeti Mistry, the owner and chef Juhu Beach Club in Oakland ,California feels that Chef Keller is stuck in another era and  views fine dining as disingenuous , built from a system rife with oppression and hierarchy where women, minorities and gays  - whether they be customers or cooks, are treated the same. He needs to address those issues and bring his restaurant and ideology into the Twenty-first Century. Chef Keller just shrugs this off. He did fight convention as a young chef but after realized that fighting and pushing is worthless.There's no value.Chef Keller believes that hard work and dedication will right all the wrongs. While his attitude may infuriate  a younger generation, Chef Keller will continue to push on. He is overseeing the rehaul of French Laundry where there will be a one million dollar renovation.It will have a soaring kitchen  ceiling that will resemble a large tablecloth floating down.One wall will have a large clock with his favorite saying underneath "Time is Urgency."

Chef Thomas Keller will be leaving a tremendous legacy. French Laundry,Per Se and le Bernardin will be talked about for generations and decades to come.His name will be up there with Escoffier and Child.

The Best French Toast Recipe Ever

With Mother's Day right around the corner, everyone should be honing their breakfast skills. One of the components of a lush morning meal is French toast. Nothing beats this variation of the French pain perdu. It's a surprisingly easy to make dish that even works for a Saturday or Sunday night supper.

Julia Moskin lets us  in on the magic in her column in today's New York Times Food section. She has always gone for what she calls the "slosher" method. where milk and eggs are sloshed together in a bowl. It's then whisked together into a frothy liquid and white bread is dunked in, scooped out and fried in butter.  The chance if it is delicious is about fifty-fifty - not very good odds for any recipe,Ms Moskin goes to a good source for advice , this being  Jessica Koslow, the owner and chef  of Spirit. Her French toast starts with thick, almost steak like slices of white bread, first seared on the stove and then roasted in the oven. She follows the popular New York trend of stuffing the slices with jams (other restaurants use a sweetened cream cheese) However the secret isn't this, but whole cream. A  few tablespoons go a long way according to her,It gives the custard a richer mouth feel. Home chefs who are still wary about using such a rich ingredient should opt for whole milk. The effect is sort of the same  yet results in a better taste than using two percent milk.

Another aspect in making the pain perdu parfait is the bread itself. Home chefs can use regular or Pullman bread which will give uniformly dipped and grilled slices. Ms. Moskin also suggests using the egg rich challah or equally rich brioche bread.Personally I'd prefer either French or Italian bread.It's dense and chewy and makes a wonderful French toast when sliced into half inch rounds.Another factor in making an excellent slice is the amount of time in the custard mixture.Remember that French toast that has been over soaked will have a damp and gooey middle while the crusts stay crisp and brown. To have an evenly coated slice dip it in, letting both sides soak for about three to four Mississippi  as Ms. Moskin advises. There are some schools of thought that advocate adding everything from sugar to Gran Marnier and Amaretto. Don't.It's not a dessert to be later served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Stick with the butter and maple syrup.Cooking it means aiming for a lacy brown crust on both sides. Think the golden brown of caramelized sugar   and not the dull brown of overcooked eggs. You can do what the chefs do and coat it in sugar  as it's fried in butter (Or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter).It'll be the perfect slice.

French toast is a simple but decadent dish. Make it correctly and it will come out as good as any restaurant.version.It will be more than a simple slice of bread, it will be a sensual experieince.

The Best Aquafaba Cookbook!

Aquafaba is one of the hottest and trendiest ingredients in the food world today. This miracle ingredient  is nothing more than bean water, coming from the humble bean. Yet it can create anything from elegant French macarons to homey scrambled eggs.

This magical elixir is the subject of vegan food blogger. Rebecca Coleman's new all vegan cookbook Aquafabulous (Robert Rose Publishers 2017). This cookbook is completely devoted to aquafaba, or bean water that comes not only chickpeas but also from navy beans and cannellini beans, The  recipe book is perfect for hard core , serious vegans, who have eschewed all meat, eggs and dairy products.What is great about the book is that it has recipes covering everything from breakfast to dessert. Mostly aquafaba is used for meringues and macarons, but there are all sorts of easy to create dishes and treats.A plus of the book is that Ms Coleman answers the many questions about the liquid. She  assures home chefs that their sweet desserts won't have an overpowering bean flavor.There is also an explanation of the different beans used in making a light or dark meringue along with the surprise of using tofu water to also create aquafaba.She also has a list of the important ingredients that are musts in any vegan pantry.There's also three different recipes for making homemade aquafaba, using  stovetop, slow cooker and pressure cooker methods.The last two methods do require an extra step of boiling, but this is minor.

I absolutely love this cookbook!! I had no idea that bean water could be so versatile. I have been wanting to make homemade macarons with it  - and the book has the recipe - but thought it was only used for this. How wrong! It can be used to make a sub in for real scrambled eggs in such tasty recipes as Breakfast Burritos and a potato -kale frittata. It makes waffles airy and light and pancakes puffy. Aquafaba is also a main ingredient in homemade pasta, creating a feather light dough along with being in a healthy baked mac and cheese.Of course there are meringue and macaron recipes. Ms. Coleman has an excellent one for French macarons filled with a chocolate ganache that I would love to try. There is the other famed meringue recipe, Pavlova that is a combination of heavenly meringue covered in macerated berries. Vegan bakers will love making the lemon meringue pie, sans the usual egg whites. Chickpeas themselves shine in some of the savory recipes too. Anybody, even fervent meat lovers would gobble up chickpea curry, chock full of sweet potatoes, chickpeas and green peas.There is a vegan chicken salad made with mashed chickpeas that's on my radar. It will be perfect for picnics . A meatless loaf with miso gravy is another must make, perfect as a the main course at any holiday dinner. An aquafaba  based ice cream will be the perfect ending to these dishes,.

Aquafabulous is the definitive cookbook for this amazing ingredient. Buy it and create not just out of this world macarons and meringues but a wide variety of tasty and healthy savory dishes.It's amazing what this humble and simple ingredient can create.