Kitchen Creativity

You don"t need to go to the grocery store every time you cook a meal or even throw together a gathering.Rely on your kitchen and ingenuity.The result is an easy cook that will free you up.

This is Alison Roman's advice in her first New York Times Food article of the New Year.Her inspiration came from an invitation from a friend with an active toddler.Ms. Roman and a friend , knowing, that this fellow cook, was strapped for time.How could she shop and create dishes with her busy schedule.They offered to  do both for her.No,the friend demurred.There was shock and awe as they saw what awaited them.She had smoked fish from Barney Green grass,a well known breakfast eatery and shop.She also whipped up jammy  eggs, vegetables tossed with scallions and a bowl of greens dressed with lemon.There was even the requisite yogurt dip and crackers.

The take away from this is that the host had set out several tiny bowls that didn't require cooking.This no nonsense approach gave the friends time to graze and catch up.Their host didn't have to run to the stove every ten minutes to check up on dishes.She didn"t have to fret about having enough or worry about  the taste.It's all about flipping the ratio of time spent working to time spent with friends and family. What would this entail? Always have ingredients that can be turned into a meal at a moment's notice.Use whatever veggies are in the crisper.These can be sliced and easily pickled,Jarred and tinned foods should also be used.Purchase something special like a roast chicken or ribs.Grains should always be at hand too.Buttered rice with just a sprinkling of salt and pepper is a nice side and can be mixed with both raw and cooked before..Also have bread handy.It can be toasted and used as a base.

Easy cooking relies not only on the cook but also on the ingredients at hand.Have a kitchen filled with the basics.Then get creative for a tasty meal or get together with family and friends..

Be Brave This Year

There's one resolution that home chefs should make this year - be brave.Jump into new recipes.Try new taters.Buy new ingredients.

One idea is buy a new gadget (or ask for one).I love my new air fryer.

It was something I actually didn't expect but now having it has given me a ton of possibilities.It also gets me to work with panko breadcrumbs  which I've done with only or two recipes.Cooking breaded cauliflower may not seem adventurous to some but this good for you veggie has never been on my culinary  top ten list.NowI'm going to be dunking it in crumbs and blasting it with hot air.

If you have your eye on other kitchen gadgets like this, get them.I thought I would only use my immersion blender for soups, but it works well with creating salad dressings and dips.As for new ingredients,I was not one for poppyseed but baking them into cakes brought the sweet's taste to a whole new level.I'd love to try a poppyseed butter cream frosting.Roast garlic is another experiment I want to try.It's versatile that it can be  whole into a side or blended with olive oil and think for a creamy sauce for chicken.Another spice I'm going to get daring with is sumac..This is one of the ingredients in Za'atar but it can be used for flavoring chicken, steak and various salads..

It's 2019.Be bold  and adventurous with your cooking.Go where you wouldn't go before!

New Year New Foods

One of the best New Year's resolutions you can make is to expand your palate.This is the first step to inclusion and breaking down the walls of prejudice.Let's face it any new dish tried is a fun way to find a new favorite.

One trend that will be popular this year is Middle Eastern.Try some of the amazing dishes of this cuisine.Yes, there are juicy and spiced kebobs and creamy hummus, but there's also Za'atar and  baba ghanouj . I can' t say enough good things about Za'atar.It's fantastic with toasted pita and highlights chicken and tomatoes.Baba ghanouj is a tasty ,zingy  dip that takes the simple eggplant  to new heights.Thanks to trying these centuries old recipes, my culinary atlas has grown.I'm excited to try Russian cuisine along with rediscovering Indian and Greek.Even local cuisines should be on anyone's radar.Philadelphia is also my dance card and that is a city with a big platter of different cuisines to buy.
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Another way to expand your culinary atlas is to take cooking classes.There are many good ones out there. Some community colleges offer them and bring in local chefs to teach.Definitely take advantage of these.Another venue is night school.Many towns offer such diverse  courses as Thai and West African.You not only learn to cook the different dishes but some will have field trips to markets to show where to buy ingredients.Specialized markets are another way to further your knowledge.Take a walk down the many aisles.Taste the samples given and ask tons of questions.If it's all overwhelming, then buy some snacks or cookies and jump from there.Many chain grocery stores have a wide variety of multiethnic foods.Try some of the imported foods and spices there.Incorporate them in your Everest cooking.

A brand new years means brand new flavors.Expand your palate to include them.You'll be glad you did!

A Party Time Cookbook

This is the week for parties, from late night soirees to New Year's Day open house. For Southerners, this is the time when they shine.They know how to do celebrating just right.For the rest of us there's The Southern Living Party Cookbook.  It's a great guide to show how to get through simple through extravagant dos.

Elizabeth Heiskell , author of  What Can I Bring , contributor to Southern Living Magazine and a well known caterer in Mississippi  has written an updated version of the early Seventies book.oxmoor Press is the publisher.This is a must have for party givers.There are dozens of ideas for all sorts of get togethers, from a girl's night out to christening parties. I love how it's not just recipes but suggestions on  everything from decor to games that can be played.There are even ideas for favors that guests can bring home.The book may reflect Southern hospitality and have a Dixie vibe but there are fondue recipes along with ones for a chick wagon get together.Also if you think it's hominy grits and fried chicken, there are sophisticated recipes and parties worthy of  any urbane crowd.There are also  section on the proper glasses for drinks and how to toast.A lovely touch is what gifts to give the hostess,something that 's really not done anymore. The Easter meal has a special how to on making golden egg name tags


The recipes are grouped according to the party.A Low Country shrimp boil will have, of course, shrimp,but also cocktail sauce and an accompanying slaw. Teas, big, in the South , are also featured,especially the sweet custom of a bridal tea.This has blushing mimosas,a twist on the classic brunch cocktail served with long stemmed strawberries authorities.Another aspect is the large amount of reasons for hoisting a glass and sharing a canape .I love the Graduation Coffee where high school (and this can definitely be extended to college grads) are feted with a morning meal of rich dark chocolate chai latte served with the easy to make petite cinnamon rolls and sausage balls.The chuck wagon dinner sounds amazing with cowboy steaks cooked on a skillet out doors. With it comes ranchero beans, Mrs. R's coleslaw and German potato salad.It ends with a giant chocolate cake.Of course there are The holidays,with flourishes added.Homemade Hollandaise sauce graces Spring asparagus, being the prefect side to a leg of lamb.Thanksgiving and Christmas have fun ideas.:-)there's old fashioned roared turkey and chocolate bourbon pecan pie along with a variety of fondues .

The Southern Living Party Cookbook is just a great idea book for party givers.It can guide any host through all sorts of gatherings and soirees.It's a home like daft must have.

My Air Fryer Adventure

I received an air fryer for Christmas.To be honest it came as a bit of a surprise.I didn't ask for it.It wasn"t on my radar.Yet, it's a great addition to my kitchen arsenal.

It looks like a Keurig coffee and tea maker.

The black circle is the temp control and timer.The cylinder in front is the basket handle.

The little fan spins away the minutes.The timing is on the left.The right side has the temperature which only goes up to 400 degrees F.

These are the inner and outer baskets that held my first experiment Gardein's chicken tenders.They  were cooked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.This is how they came out.

They were crispy and better taste than when I oven baked them.Of course, fries had to go with them so I used Acme's in house brand Signature shoestring fries,

The result?Perfection.They crosped up nicely aft being cooked at 400 F for fifteen minutes.

This Christmas gift has turned out to be one of the best gifts ever.I am getting the cookbook on air frying .There"s a basket full of great foods to be made!

A Wild Russian Feast

New Year parties mean a lot of food and a lot of drink.The Russians amp this up with feast that rivals any holiday party or dinner.They create tables that literally groan with the weight of many dishes ~and of course vodka .

Julia Moskin wrote about this as well as interviewing chef Bonnie Frumpkin Morales!, owner of the popular Portland,Oregon eateries, Kachka and Kachinka.Her family came from Belarus,which was a separate country (emigres  use the blanket term Russia when asked where they're from).The Russian New Year revelry is less than one hundred years old, starting after the Russian Revolution.Vast properties of the Russian Orthodox Church were nationalized with religious instruction being outlawed, and the craziest - outlawing belief in miracles which probably meant the Virgin Birth. A decade later the Soviet regime completely banned Christmas.They twisted it into a day of work.New Year's Eve, however , was saved and declared a national holiday.   Gradually Christmas traditions snuck in.There were trees, presents and sweets.Father Christmas was transformed to Grandfather Frost who handed out gifts with the help of his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden.It is now a big to do night.That means the meal or the zakuski  course  may start in the early evening and last until midnight There are braised short ribs,  along with Georgian chicken tabaka, pressed flat and pan roasted with garlic.Another lush dish is chanterelle mushrooms and potatoes cooked in a Russian version of creme  fraiche,

Chef Frumpkin -Morales (her husband, Israel, is of Latino heritage and fromKansas City,Missouri ) and
her family create these dishes along with many others.Her parents brought over their dishes of pungent smelling fish along with their recipes for pickled fruit and vegetables.There was also jellied  calves feet and cured skeins of fish roe.One of the stars of any Russian New Year's feast is Salat  Olivier, which has become Russia's modern national dish.Poached chicken is folded with diced potatoes,pickles, eggs, carrots and whatever is dictated by family tradition.During the czarist  era, caviar and crayfish were  major additions for the wealthy.During the Soviet era, luxury was replaced with baloney and canned peas for everyone. There is also salo ,a cured pork fastback and dark, dense breads.All this is washed down with endless vodka shots.The meal has to be hearty to absorb all that strong alcohol.There are recipes that anyone can recreate, including the mushroom and potato one.There is also a herbed grain salad with mushrooms, hazelnuts and pears.Spinach and the Soviet staple.,barley is also tossed in.There is a neat  "cookie"  recipe called chocolate kolbasa that's a blend of shortbread, graham crackers and a fudgy mix of chocolate chips, chopped nuts and cocoa blended with butter and condensed milk.It's mixed together, filled into a log and then chilled.It can also star at kids  parties too.

The Rusians know how to do New Year"s right:. It is feasting and fun for all ages.They ring  in a holiday with gusto and passion .

Trends of The New Year

It's the day after Christmas and there are already predictions for what will be trendy in 2019.What will we eat? Or drink? Will we be more eco conscious or more snack ready? Time and our palates will tell.

Regular contributor.Kim Sevrrson pondered this in an interesting article in today's New York Times Food section.One of the most intriguing is cheese teas coming from Taiwan. This is green or black tea sipped through a cap of cream cheese blended with cream or condensed milk.It 's already big in San Francisco where it's  are with Meyer lemon and mascarpone cheese.Bet Starbucks will do e out with ,with Dunkin Donuts following.It  may be good, who knows.Another beverage that will be gaining speed is dry drinks.The 18 to 34 age group are more involved in spirit free cocktails.What does that mean? High alcoholic liquors such as gin will be relegated to the back of the bar.Drinks will be mixed with lower alcohol wines such as the spark ly Prosecco along with shrubs(!), craft vermouth, botanicals, and also non alcoholic drinks like Seedlip ,distilled vegetable and floral extracts.

We will be having more of a conscious when we eat too.Plastic straws and bags will have more bams throughout the country.Also diners are demanding that their favorite eateries cut back on packaging.Cutlery and plates will also be more reusable.Another green dream is the plant based main course.Substantial vegetable entrees will become fixtures on menus.Many people have started to eat less red meat or abandon animal products altogether.There are even some corporations  that have banned red meat from their campuses.Will this anger some carnivores? Possibly ,there may even be some law suits then?That said,another new trend is motherless meat, proteins that are laboratory grown that are entering  mainstream dining.There will also be more creams, milk and cheeses made from soy nuts and coconut.Even everyone's favorite ice cream will be made with no cream.A big trend that I've embraced is Middle Eastern food.Many will go wild over the foods of Lebanon,Syria and Turkey.Za'atar  and kebobs  will rule.There is also talk that the Stans  such as Kazahkstan, Tajikistan  and Uzbekistan will also give us the most popular dishes too.

2019 will be full of interesting trends that are both green and global.Embrace them or ignore them.Or come up with a few of your own.