A Good Memorial Day

A good Memorial Day to all my readers. Enjoy the dogs and burgers, wings and salads, ribs and slaw.

The Pantry Is Semi Open

Last week I closed this blog for an indefinite amount of time. It'll be semi open because I feel I think I can manage it despite my illness. (more on that in the summer). There is so much to report on , especially with the New York Times Sam Sifton and his feud against the trendy Mexican pop up NOMA, along with new and healthier food trends I'd like to follow.

The problem is how much do I write? Everyday may be a bit too much, I have  not only a sick self but sick cat to deal with along with housework and whatever comes my way. I may just do a three or even paragraph report every Friday on what's going on in the world of food and eventually work my way up to three four and back to six times a week. We'll see. I don't know what the fates will allow.

If you feel like advising me , go ahead. I would appreciate what you,the readers, these past nine years have to say and how you feel.

The Pantry Is On Indefinite Close

Yet again I have a serious health problem that will take up my life and  very likely incapacitate  me.I have to shut down Foodie Pantry It may reopen in six months or a year. This may be it and it's over for good..It's scary and I have no answer to give my readers.

All I can say is thanks for your support, Cook well, bake well, eat well and live well.

Skinny Cooking ,Not So Skinny Flavor

Every home chef will tell you home cooking can put on the pounds. At times, they made with love and lard, sugar and sweetness. Yet imagine creating tasty mains, sides and even dessert at a fraction of the calories. You can, thanks to a brand new cookbook.

Victoria Dwek and Shani Taub  has written an interesting collection of low calorie  recipes in The Secrets Of Skinny Cooking (Me'Sorah Publications Ltd. 2017). Ms. Dwek is the author of many other cookbooks such as Passover Made Easy and Dairy Made Easy. This is a great book with many tasty recipes for both breakfast, lunch and dinner along with afters. A huge plus is Ms. Dwek's a how to parse the recipes that are half written by her and MS. Taub, a certified nutritionist. There's also a pictorial about what containers and cruets to have for storage.Since the book focuses on lower calories eating and cooking there's also a pictorial how to with just Greek yogurt and what to add to it.This is a fun extra for those who want to vary their snacking and quick meals.There's also a pictorial on what to put on those morning rice cakes and toasts too.They offer a sliced apple along with avocado cream to name a few toppings to choose from.The cookbook's back has something unusual - ads for Ms. Dwek's other cookbooks.and interconnecting recipes from this one,It's sort of like a cross reference.

What about the recipes themselves? The breakfast section does have the unusual  French toast Eggs In  A Hole which combines a diner classic with sweet goodness. (although I wouldn't use Splenda, the way Ms Dwek would. I'd try the more natural agave syrup). There are Savory Warm Eggs and Yogurt where eggs whites are made into a crepe like omelet and served with a  garlicky Greek yogurt sauce.  The salad section are beyond interesting, especially the beet pesto where beets are combined with traditional pesto ingredients such as walnuts and olive oil. There are many vegetarian recipes in this, all made with fresh veggies, perfect for the season ahead.Try Portobello Mushroom Sliders that use portobello caps topped with frozen spinach red peppers and onions, capped with ooey , gooey melted mozzarella or red pepper fettucini.,pasta with a traditional tomato sauce zinged up with red pepper. Those low calorie standards, chicken, steak and fish are also represented here. There's chicken avocado schwarma, shabos steak. and tuna sliders. I love the Chinese food recipes, with low calorie variations on low mein and steamed chicken and broccoli.Desserts are easy and fun.Rich ones such as creme brulee and lemon Napoleons are turned into a dieter's dream thanks to the addition of sugar free vanilla pudding and wonton wrappers for Napoleon pastry.

The Secrets of Skinny Cooking is a great cookbook for those who are watching their weight or wanting to look fit for bikini season. The recipes give minimum calories but maximum taste. There's no sacrificing with this diet driven recipes.

The Future Of Our Markets

The grocery market has improved American cuisine for home chefs.It introduced such diverse foods as egg rolls and naan along with collard greens and bagels to our culinary landscape. Yet is its' time past? Are they passe in this day and age?

That's the question posed in an interesting article and interview written by Stephanie Strom in yesterday's New York Times Food section.She was with recently published author, Michael Ruhlman on a tour of a Nutley, New Jersey Shop Rite. Mr. Ruhlman has just published "Grocery:The Buying and Selling of Food in America" by Abram Publishers.This one is an indictment of our modern grocery store being responsible for this country's unhealthiness. His trip has him singling out Special K Caramel Coconut Chewy Bar which is more candy bar than health one with its' staggering seven grams of sugar. Of course that brings up a chapter in his book, "Breakfast- The Most Dangerous Meal of the Day" thanks to our stores selling sugar soaked cereals. He also hones in on, Duncan Hines Perfect Size For One, basically make your own cupcake in a microwave.It has thirty-five grams of sugar however its' convenience is perfect for millennials  - the grab and go eaters. Luckily, thanks to Nutley's sizable Asiacommunity. there are exotic and fresh fruits and vegetables along with fresh fish. This should help boost the nutrition levels of other town residents.

He also predicts that supermarkets will change considerably thanks to many home chefs buying the essentials on line. This means that such everyday items like dish detergent., frozen foods and anything canned or bagged will be out of the store, leaving room for not only fresh produce and baked goods but also for specialty foods.Mr. Ruhlman pointed out that Krogers just acquired Murray's Cheese, an artisanal cheese and specialty foods retailer , catering to trendy Greenwich Village millennials.It started out as a simple family owned eggs and dairy store and then just expanded into charcuterie and bakery. The problem is that this is fine for those who have money and unlimited budgets, but what about those who can't afford the fancy cold cuts and cheeses, along with artesenal pickles and butters? Even the everyday items like chicken breasts and tomatoes will go up in price. Also would a company like Peapod deliver to more urban or even rural areas?A more egalitarian idea is keeping the stores as they are. It's worked for over a century . Why ruin it?

Will the supermarket survive another century? Hopefully . We need it. It;'s where palates are expanded and budgets respected. It's an important part of our American and everyday landscape.

True Mex

Mention Mexican food and some may cringe. After all, it hasn't been represented well , not only here but across the globe. Yet that true cuisine and thanks to Mexican born chefs around the world, that idea is changing.

Julia Mokin wrote this interesting article in today's New York Times' Food section.For years, tacos and any bean dish were served in Mexican restaurants, from Copenhagen, to New York and from London to surprisingly Los Angeles. Things are changing as innovative chefs with roots in the Mexican states are creating a "Modern Mexican" cuisine. This is a movement similar to the New Nordic cuisine which shone a spotlight on Scandinavian rye bread, smoked fish and Arctic berries. It introduces diners to such native ingredients as cacao, agave, and cactus along with pre-Hispanic varieties of tomatoes, squash and pumpkins. The ingredients which define Mexican cuisine, corn and chilies are also shone in their  original light. Don''t expect traditional dishes such as chiles in nogada,  stuffed poblano chiles or mole poblanos. This is a movement that  uses local ingredients to create Mexican food.

Is that working? In some cases no. If the menu says Mexican, diners want fajitas and taquitos, not a bean mousse or a black bean broth with a dot of caviar and a fleck of gold leaf. This is standard fare at Californio, a San Francisco  restaurant owned by chef Val Cantu. Yet many people have a set idea, thanks to chain restaurants such as On The Border and Taco Bell.Chefs have to work with what they have as was the case with Rosio Sanchez who has her restaurant, the famed, taqueria Noma, in Copenhagen. She does have fresh hand pressed corn tortillas but also octopus with fermented corn husks.It is used in Mexican cooking but not that much.It's more about Danish tastes which revolve around dairy , acidity, fat and unami. The ingredients are all decidedly Nordic Another example is Atla, the trendy Mexican eatery in Manhattan,has a tostada topped with Arctic char, farmer's cheese and capers deliberately echoes the Lower East Side's traditional bagel with a schmear of scallion cream cheese and lox.

What is Mexican cooking? It's what Mexican chefs make it where they make it.It could be a bean mousse or dishes made with local - non Mexican ingredients. It's about adapting  but also keeping tradition.

Southern Edge

Southern cooking is a double edged sword. Yes, it is recognized and is the backbone of American cuisine. However it also has a dark history - born in slavery and enslavement,Does it get acknowledged or ignored? Brought to light or buried?

John T Edge has written about this, questioning every dish that comes out of our Southern states.Kim Severson did an article about this in last week's New York Times Food section. There have been other writers, Ms. Severson reports but none so loud or direct as he.. His new book, The Potlikker Papers:A Food History Of The Modern South , explores Southern recipes of the last sixty years.. The book's title is derived from the  name for the leftover broth from cooked greens  that slave owners fed their enslaved., Luckily the South is changing as his book points out. Fried okra may be sprinkled with fish sauce while ribs are  doused in the Chinese red pepper paste gochujang.

Mr. Edge is not a likely candidate to write abut the South's racist history  He originally dropped out of the University of Georgia where  he was a fullback. He re-entered the famed Ole Miss - University of Mississippi where he majored in Southern Studies. It seems likely that he would branch off with Southern cooking. The South and cooking have been entwined since the late 1600's with the rice trade from the Carolinas.His mentor, the historian, John Edgerton told him that there is still a debt that has to be paid by Southern eaters, relishing the recipes of the enslaved. This has led to him creating the SFA the Southern Food Alliance where it has received criticism. Yet this is what happens with Southern cooking that does come with tremendous baggage.

Will it ever resolve? No. Southern cooking like Southern history will always be tainted by the enslavement and inequality of Africans.