Cooking favorites With Gail Simmons

Everyone has a  favorite dish .It's the go to for dinner parties or holiday meal. It's that comfort food or treat we turn to when times get tough. Imagine a whole cookbook filledwith all sorts of delicious recipes for both food and drink. Now home chefs can, thanks to celebrity chef and Food Channel star  Gail Simmons. Her new cookbook is a must have for any kitchen,

Bringing It Home (Grand Central Publishing 2017) was written by Ms. Simmons and Mindy Fox. and it features everything from fun cocktails and  nibbles to roasts and sides. She knows food thanks to her background for helping out Vogue Food editor, Jeffrey Steingarten to being one of the most popular judges on the Food Channel favorite Top Chef for the last few years. Her book has deeply detailed descriptions on vital kitchen gadgets as well as what every well stocked pantry should have.These also are described in depth so no home chef can ever buy the wrong ingredient after reading it. Another important bonus is the chapter on chef lessons worth bringing it home. These are tips ranging from when to add salt to knowing when a dish needs acid. I like the fact that most of the recipes also have additions such as Kitchen Wisdom which are little asides about shopping, cutting or cleaning ingredients and Snippets (also one of Ms Simmons' childhood nicknames) that have fun facts about the food. There is also Chef Tech which gives home chefs and bakers tips about preparation  and cooking. Because of these the book is a great gift for novice chefs who still may have qualms about cooking and baking.

The recipes not only reflect her traveling, both with family and for Top Chef but also her Jewish and Canadian background. There are recipes for chopped liver and pork and beans Quebecois, an homage to her grandmother.  The book is divided   up into such chapters as Begin The Day For breakfast, Poultry and Meat along with Drinks - non-alcoholic sips and Drink-Drinks, the real deal. Ms. Simmons gives an easy recipe for soft boiled eggs along with the fancier Bloody Mary Eggs that's a spin on the North African dish shakshura. Imagine this for brunch, washed down with her Pickle Juice (!) Martini. She has excellent meat dishes such as Piri-Piri Roast Chicken, chicken zinged up with the ancho chilis, fresh ginger and coriander and Not Your Mama's Horseradish Brisket, in which the traditional cut is coated with garlic and horseradish. There are also excellent sides too, such as salt and vinegar smashed potatoes and grilled radishes. The two favorite sections are the Nibbles and Sweets chapters are chock full of fun recipes. I want to try her Crispy Chickpeas, spiced up with dukkah, the Egyptian spice blend for a snack while her Toasted Hazelnut Tarte Au Sucre would make a nice change up for pie during the holidays. Her bourbon marshmallows also sound like a real treat, especially floating in her dark hot cocoa.

Bringing It Home is a cornucopia of Gail Simmons favorite recipes.It's a great book, chock full of all sorts dishes and desserts. Her favorites  are so tasty and delicious that they're sure to be everyone's else's favorites too.

It's Coleridge's Birthday!

Today is Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's birthday, born in the romantic and dairy rich shire of Devon in Southwestern in England. What would he have eaten for his big day? Pasties, buttery and flaky pastries filled with beef, pork and possibly chicken. Maybe a slice of the fish intense Stargazey Pie , with the little heads of pilchards. It would have been washed down with a delicious cup of scrumpy - a strong, slightly carbonated cider made from the county's famed apples. He may have finished with a Dittisham plum tart smothered with clotted cream.

To him, a toast  - not with scrumpy but with a modern American treat - the German chocolate cupcake!

The Perfect Birthday Cake

One of the crowning moments of any birthday is the cake. It's usually a perfect two layer affair with a yummy filling , frosted with buttercream. Buttercream roses or marzipan figures decorate it.It's a challenge for many home bakers , yet it doesn't have to be. Any home baker can create the perfect birthday cake.

One of the biggest dilemmas home bakers face is what kind of cake to bake.Scratch or mix? Many purists will tell you scratch is much better for you health wise and taste wise too. However, if you're pressed for time, a mix is a lifesaver. If you want to make a scratch one, keep it simple with a vanilla or a chocolate flavors Make sure you have all the ingredients from the baking powder to the butter and eggs. Remember to have unsweetened  cocoa powder if you're making a chocolate scratch cake. As for mixes, Duncan Hines  brand is really the best. The mix produces the best crumb - moist and flavorful. Pilsbury and Betty Crocker are also very good. All have a variety of different flavors that include such fruit flavors as orange ,lemon,pineapple and strawberry. Betty Crocker has the  fun SuperMoist Rainbow Chip cake , a mix filled with multicolored sprinkles. Once you decide on what kind of cake you're going to bake, check your inventory of pans.  The best kind is nine inch metallic ones. These  produce perfectly baked and even layers , with no burning. Also make sure you have a cake tester which is crucial is determining when the layers are done along with a sturdy wire rack for cooking.

The filling is important too. Many home bakers just use the icing as the filling, which can be OK if it's not too sweet. Cream cheese icing is the filling of choice for classic Red Velvet and carrot cake as well as banana cake. For other cakes, pureed fruit and whipped cream make for a nice  not too sweet filler. Try a layer of fresh cream and raspberry for any chocolate or vanilla cake.Lemon curd is a great filling for a lemon or pineapple cake. It's an easy mix of lemon juice with zest blended with egg yolk, sugar and butter to create a kind of pudding. A strawberry cake would be made decadent with a chocolate mousse one., and then iced with a dark chocolate butter cream. As for the finishing touch, buttercream is the way to go. Fondant, a combination of corn syrup, shortening and powdered sugar, flavored with vanilla is heavy and will make the cake cloyingly sweet. Save it for making figures and objects. Go with buttercream. The frosting can be made in a variety of flavors from vanilla to raspberry to orange to even peanut butter. Again, make sure you have the instruments to make the perfect gateau. An icing spatula is a must  because it gives a smooth glossy finish to the cake. Icing combs will give the sides those perfect even lines that bakery cakes have. Make sure you have a good cake icer that has a variety of nozzles to make buds and leaves. A cake nail is necessary to make those big roses that grace every birthday cake.Also have a nozzle with a small tip for writing.

The perfect birthday cake is the perfect gift. It should have a moist cake, a delicate filling and a creamy , buttery icing. The combination will give you  a memorable creation that's worthy of any birthday wish.

Diwali Feasting

Today is Diwali, the  Hindu festival of lights, starts today. It's a time of celebrating but also feasting on delicious savory and sweet dishes They are easy to make , not just for this holiday but for  an every day treat as well. Usher in  the harvest with them or just have them star in a dinner.

Diwali is praying to the goddess Laksmhi, the goddess of prosperity and fertility. Families dress up in their best clothes, visit each other and exchange gifts.it's a five day affair with families honoring each other on the different days. Food  plays an important part and various  New York Times Food writers gives us some excellent savory and sweet ones. Try David Tanis' Chana Dal Sundal,  Southern India  street fare that reminds one of popcorn.It is the perfect party food, especially if there are a lot of kids in attendance . It's simply cooking cold water soaked chickpeas in abundant lightly salted water and then afterwards placing them on a cookie sheet to dry. They're then tossed with curry leaves cooked with curry leaves, red chiles and mustard seeds. A pinch of asafetida gives it a mild leek taste. An eggplant curry would be a great main dish . Again, most of the ingredients from the Chana Dal Sundal are used along with tamarind paste and unsweetened coconut. The eggplants are sliced and  slashed . Spices are then pressed into them and cooked over a high heat for six minutes.  A heartier dish is lamb curry , from David Tanis. It is rich with coriander, turmeric and cumin. The Indian clarified butter, ghee is used to cook the meat and sliced onions. A raita or sauce made from Greek yogurt, cumin and mustard seeds is also made to pour over the lamb.

Diwali is really a holiday of sweets, with sugary treats given to children.Kids will adore the chocolate burfi  - a kind of fudge given on holidays,birthdays and special occasions.  Like fudge it's super easy to make, using ghee, cocoa powder, and both condensed milk and powdered milk. A few drops of rose water  along with sugar gives the treet its' rich sweetness.The treat is made in layers, from the buttery ghee bottom to the chocolate top. Adults may choose shrikhand or sweet strained yogurt recipe from famed Indian food writer, Teja Rao.. This  is made by straining Greek yogurt for twenty-four hours in the  fridge and then gently adding in pistachios, confectioners sugar, saffron,  and cardamon. Once everything is thoroughly mixed , place into serving dishes and decorate with more pistachio and saffron threads.. A European take , again from Dave Tanis, is the coconut cardamom panna cotta. The spice's pods are added as well as unsweetened coconut milk. It's decorated with candied grated ginger along with peaches, nectarines, blackberries or raspberries. Sip some of Melissa Clark' mango rose waters Lassi, a refreshing mix of  mango, yogurt, milk and rose water. This can also be frozen intoa frozen yogurt for dessert.

Diwali is a time of lights and celebrating. It's also a time of feasting. Make savory and sweet treats to enjoy with family and friends.

Eating Better Thanks To Science

The name Musk is usually associated with science - the science of the electric car. Now there's another Musk, Elon's brother , Kimbal who is changing the food world. His style? Using science, of course. He wants to revolutionize the food world the way his brother revolutionized the auto world.

His was the main story in today's New York Times Food section. Food regular Kim Severson, conducted an interview with this innovator. Kimbal Musk's main idea is to promote a philosophy of  real food that will not only nourish the body but also the farmer and the planet.It's not really a new idea. Michael Pollan, a food writer, and author of Food Rules has been preaching this for years as others who have pushed and created a farmer's market and urban farms. What makes Mr. Musk's idea unique is that he wants to create a network of business, educational, and agricultural ventures  big enough to return the nation's food system back to healthy local foods, grown on pesticide free farms.It is the ideal dream and he does have have somewhat of a background in it, starting with his childhood. He cooked at his father's house for him along with for Elon and their sister, Tosca. Mr Musk does have restaurant experience too. He and his former wife, Jen Lewin, started Kitchen in 2004, in Colorado. It was a farm to table concept. A skiing accident that broke his neck and left him temporarily paralyzed got him to refocus his drive. He would devote his life to food.

This led him to be interested in school gardens. His ex wife designed a modular curved plastic planters that could be arranged in any school yard to hold produce yielding plants. They were first installed in the Denver school district in 2010, with the extra bonus of teaching kids about science.Other schools in Memphis, Los Angeles ,Pittsburgh and Chicago.He's also started a chain of hyperlocal restuarants, called Next Door,These feature wild salmon and local pasture raised beef, along with big Greek salads bursting with community vegetables. Not everyone is enamored of his efforts. There has been a lot of criticism, especially from Alice Waters, the pioneer of the American Slow Food Movement. and creator of the famed restaurant , Chez Panisse. To be fair, he has criticized her , proclaiming that she doens;t know how to scale a garden to fit a school. She in turn has accused of him the same thing. His Square Roots project has met with a lot of flak too. It's an idea that has young farmers growing greens with nothing but enhanced water and LEDs in shipping containers, It's hydroponic farming that has critics sniping about the lack of nutrient rich soil.

Will Kimbal Musk change the food industry the way his brother, Elon changed the auto industry? Can he change the way we eat ? He has the drive and determination to do so - just like his brother.

Rock Star Dishes

Rock stars are no different than us - in fact they were us before all the success and fame. They also cooked like us, honoring family classics and whipping up their favorite dishes. Now there's a new cookbook, thanks to self taught chef and former music writer, Mark Bego. He's given us some recipes that will surely rock a home chef's kitchen.

Eat Like A Rock Star (Skyhorse Publishing 2017) is the perfect cookbook for any cook who love both the art of cooking and the arts of music and song. There are all sorts of dishes and drink recipes from classical pianists to the rock royalty.Mr. Bego , himself , has also contributed a variety of different ones to the book. His career,  revolves around interviewing celebrities for Record World as well as penning biographies of such superstars as Madonna, Tina Turner and Jackson Brown. Yet he also love to cook and bake, and the book are evidence of this.what is great about the book is that readers dive straight into the recipes. There are no pages or  chapters telling you what  instruments and gadgets you should have  or what ingredients your pantry should hold. Every recipe has an interesting  story with it along with tips for varying the recipe or shortcuts. The chapters are divided into the usual, brunch and breakfast, lunch , salads and soups, meats, pasta, sides  and dessert. There is one exception and that is the cocktail chapter. Any of the drinks would pair well with the hors 'ouevres and brunch recipes.

Mr. Begos has had his famed friends contribute delicious recipes any home chef can make. Ray Parker Junior, known for the theme , from the original "Ghostbusters" movie  contributed his Salmon, Eggs and Grits recipe, a fun Sunday brunch recipe.It's scrambled eggs with salmon and a side of buttery grits. Rock royalty, Sean Lennon has  his Zen like Ginger Scallion Salmon with four main ingedients - again a pefect light supper , especially if served with  Mr Begos" roasted root vegetables. Pasta has always fed musicians and there's no shortage of good ones here to try.  The Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald gives  us his Pasta With Ham, Peas and Parmesan Cheese. This is a hearty dish  that can be made so easily  thanks to frozen peas and shredded ham. Lou Christie, the man behind the 1966 hit "Lightenin' Strikes" has a downright tasty Summer Linguine with the salsa cruda, made with fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil.Mr. Begos himself, has some extraordinary recipes too. Try his Chicken Paprikash, an homage to his Hungarian heritage or  his Mongolian Beef , a nod to his;love  of Chinese cuisine. Desserts are varied, from Angela Bowie's Cowboy Cookies, a combo of peanut butter and chocolate chip and the heavenly Hungarian Dessert Crepes from classical pianist Havasi,Try a drink from Mickey Dolenz of Monkees fame or Ricky Jones of  The Village People.

Eat Like A Rock Star can make any home chef cook and bake like one. The recipes are tasty and fun to recreate. They're definitely classics in the kitchen.

Spicing Up Your Meats

Want to zing up that chicken or pork. Add spice - and yes, you can add  some of the ones that make pumpkin spice what it is. It's a nice way to add some flavorful heat on a nippy fall day. Best of all it give home chefs the chance to be creative.

Spiced meats are nothing new. Before refrigeration and salt, adding spices to various meals to preserve them and take away their rancid flavor. Pepper, cinnamon, cumin and cloves were the ones of choice and they still are today. What should today's cooks use?It depends on the meat. If you're having qualms about using anything more than rosemary or oregano - which are herbs, then just use a light hand. Start off with a roast chicken , flavored with ground pepper and  the Indian classic, garam masala. This last can easily be made at home  by blending cumin, coriander, and cinnamon with cardamom, cloves and nutmeg.It's then marinating the chicken for fifteen minutes before roasting and then roasting in an oven. Pair  the smoky sweet allspice and nutmeg with cayenne  in a fiery jerk rub . Cinnamon on its' own can flavor a chicken. For a Moroccan vibe mix the spice with cumin and ginger  and then fricassee it. Add almonds and couscous for more authenticity. Allspice and cumin can be turned into a paste along with paprika, onion and garlic powders  to rub over chicken . it's then roasted , producing a crispy, spicy skin.

Pork is another meat that can be zinged up with spice. Pork roast on its' own is delicious, but add cinnamon to bring out the meat's sweet flavor. It's combining the spice with salt, pepper, onion, sugar and garlic,. Soy sauce is added to make it a paste and then the mixture is rubbed onto the meat. It does need three to  twenty-four hours to marinate. Cinnamon can be combined with ground pepper for a tasty rub, sweetened with brown sugar and zinged up with dried mustard.Pair the spice with its' fellow sweet spices of nutmeg and allspice for a different kind of dry rub. Red pepper and garlic powder are also added to balance out the sweetness.it's then rubbed onto the pork and left to stand for twenty minutes to let the flavors soak in. Ham can also be improved with a variety of fall spices. A cinnamon glaze is a nice change of pace for a Sunday or holiday ham. It's combining it with maple syrup and dark brown sugar for a spicy sweet foil to the meat's saltiness. Allspice can also be used for ham as well. Mix it with cloves and a jolt of whiskey along with brown sugar and garlic powder. for a memorable glaze that will give the meat a nice bacon like crust

Consider spiced meat this fall. It's a nice alternative and will give chicken, pork or ham a smoky, warm sweetness. Add autumn's flavors to your main meal for a tasty change.