The Air Fryer Controversy

For some the air fryer is a blessing. It's a handy way of cooking certain foodstuffs without having to rely on the oven. It's small, and compact. There's no preheating and cleaning it is a snap. So what's wrong with it?

According to the New York Times and it's subsidiary Wirecutter, this genius machine has a lot of flaws. Melissa Clark wrote an article about it in today's New York Times Food section. There are also recipes too which highlight the air fryer's good points. To be honest, I don't see why there are any complaints.I was skeptical at receiving it at first but that quickly dissolved with the first use. For me, it's better than using the stove. No annoying preheating time. Just set the temp and the minutes and cook. Since it's  a convection oven ,every part of the food being cooked is perfectly "fried" to golden perfection. Hot air is circulated around by high speed fans in the machine's upper part.The food is placed in a perforated basket and the grease drips down into the basket beneath.It's a simple clean up - another plus. Yet Wirecutter claimed that it was over hyped and overpriced. (Mine was a gift bought during a pre- Christmas sale at Target. $60 dollars marked down from $100)

The machine was first introduced in Europe in 2010 and since it's introduction to the States, nearly ten million were sold. Sales increased 69 % in 2018 alone. Those are numbers not to be sneezed at

. As for the recipes, I feel Ms. Clark gets too elaborate with them, especially the fries.She bakes them twice , first at 350 degrees F for ten minutes and then 400 degrees F for another ten minutes

 . There's a cooling period in between that I think is unnecessary (but that's just me). I would probably go for 360 F for ten minutes then, turn, then cook again. There's also a Brussels sprout one, with them being baked with garlic. The sprouts  sound good and something I would try, but without the balsamic soy sauce. As for the chicken wings, again they sound tasty but , again, Ms Clark puts a lot of work into a simple dish. She coats them with baking powder, salt and pepper, then refrigerated for anywhere from an hour to overnight (really?) Then the pieces are placed along the edges

 of the basket and air fried for 400 degrees F for twenty minutes. One, I don't think it has to have all that overnight waiting and two, placing the wings on the basket's edges is too much. They can be placed on the basket's floor and flipped after ten minutes of cooking.

Are air fryers worth it?  YES! I would urge to get one if you don't have one already. They are definitely worth the money and the counter space. Buy one. You won't regret it.

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Spaetzles For Spring

One of the joys of Spring cooking is that it means lighter meals.One dish on the light side is the classic Swabian German dish  spaetzles. This versatile noodle can be the side or supporter of different meats and vegetables.It can also be bought or homemade - all are delicious.

Spaetzle originates in the southern German state of Swabia and means "little sparrows.It also goes by the name knopfle which means small buttons. The area was good for raising spelt -a hulled wheat that can thrive in poor soil. The noodles can be made with only water which was good in times of hardship. It has been part of the southern German diet for over three hundred years and is now considered a "specialty" food, only eaten on feast days. You can make them at home.It's a simple recipe which consists of flour , usually four eggs for body and nutmeg for taste. Milk or water is  added as well.(you can even use soy, rice or almond milk).The dough is then beaten until air bubbles arise.You can then roll a slab of dough on a pastry board  and then cut off long noodles using a pastry cutter, letting them drop into boiling water. You can also splurge and buy an expensive one for sixty dollars from Amazon bu they also have cheaper ones between ten and fifteen dollars. Mine was only twelve dollars.I have yet to use it. I discovered Aldi's Deutsche Kuche Egg Spaetzle. It cooks up like any other pasta and has a lovely tender texture.

What I like about spaetzle is that it can go with any thing.I grew up with it, my maternal grandfather was Swabische-American and he brought some amazing recipes  to the family table.It can mellow out tart sauerkraut  - which was and still is not my favorite. It can also transform the bland green bean into a tasty treat.It also serves a great base for sauerbraten and gravy . The Deutsche Club in Clark, NJ has a delicious spaetzle dish, chock full of beef and gravy. This last is one version I enjoy, however try to  recreate it in a primarily vegan household. juice. It was portobello mushrooms with mushroom caps and stems. The gravy was a combination vegan butter, sage - which is used a lot in German cuisine and the juice from the mushroom bits. The dish turned OK, but next time,I'll make the spaetzles with green beans. The noodles can also be served with any kind of cheese. My cousins like theirs with butter and Parmesan which is a southern Italian spin on the dish. Buttered spaetzles can also be a great side to roast chicken and/or Cornish game hens too.They  served can also be chicken breasts in a lemon butter sauce too.

Spaetzles are a versatile addition to any menu. They can be used as a main dish or a side. Have them as part of your Spring dinner plan.

Livfit Super Food A Super Addition

We are always skeptical about what additives are put in our foods. However there's one addition that's can be beneficial to our lives - Livfit Superfood.It is not only chock full of good ingredients but also flavor.It's an ingredient that every home chef should have.

Livfit Superfood is one of Better Body Foods, a Utah based company that has a wide variety of healthy products. There are protein powders and superfood blends that include such interesting ingredients as baobab (!) and my favorite Super Seeds. The company also has baking products such as organic cacao powder and coconut flour for baking everything from good for you cakes to muffins. Home chefs will appreciate their array of ancient grains and natural oils to cook with on a daily basis.

It's a mix of chia , (yes that chia that grows on clay heads and figures)flax and hemp. The last is getting a lot of publicity right now but hemp does have benefits. It's loaded with antioxidants and fatty acids.

This is what the mix looks like close up.

I've sprinkled it on my salad. It has a  nutty flavor, kind of like ground walnuts.I am going to put a heaping teaspoon in my oatmeal, just to get fiber into the daily diet.It's also going to be blended into homemade banana muffins and my mammoth M&M cookies to  make them a tad less decadent. The blend can also be swirled into smoothies. Those can be frozen to create healthy ice pops for the summer. Of course it would be wonderful in loaves of homemade bread and rolls as well as pizza.it Super Seeds can also be used in making fruit crumbles too.

Today's directive is eat healthy.Livfit's Super Seeds can help you achieve that goal. Try some Super Seeds, not just for the taste but for the benefits!

A Very Vegan Spring

Spring is here and it's time to look to lighter fresher foods. One of the best way is to go vegan.It's a good time  with holiday fasting and dietary restrictions required. You'll not only feel better about yourself but also feel good about helping the planet.

The upcoming weeks are all about giving up. The Catholics, Greek and Russian Orthodox are observing fasting days right now on Wednesdays and Fridays.There is not only no meat but with the last two, no cheese,dairy eggs or even olive oil.It's a good time to try tofu which can not only offer nourishment but variety. It can be found in soft or hard, or with an in between texture. Steam it with soy , ginger and scallions. Flavor it with lemon for a healthy supper that fits all the religious dietary requirements.It can be served with one of the allowed basics such as rice or pasta.Another recipe that can work after the holidays is stuffed pepper or stuffed tomato. Use the chewier and more flavorful arborio rice, used in risotto, with garlic .Give some it color and oomph with various herbs such as basil or mint.Beans and nuts are also allowed. Think of adding them to the stuffing mixture for more protein.If you're going the salad route , then think of adding any kind of bean, such as chickpea or kidney along with pine nuts.The Greek Orthodox allow the creamy sesame seed based tahini sauce so think of making a hummus out of the two. This can be an excellent lunch or dinner.

Passover requires some fasting as well, but not as strict as the other religions. The only restriction applies to flours and yeast. Wheat, barley, corn,spelt and rye are forbidden, being replaced by matzoh. Meats are allowed but not with any kind of dairy. That means no butter milk or cheese. Tofu is also forbidden because it is made from legumes which are forbidden during this holy time. Rice is another banned food because it can be ground into a flour. How can someone go vegan without these two key ingredients in a meat free diet? Use matzoh as a stand in.Tomatoes, peppers and even onions can be stuffed with matzoh crumbs. Mix with olive oil and various herbs and bake in an oven. Any of the recipes can be used outside the holidays. It's relatively easy to switch over to a completely vegan lifestyle after the holidays. Soy meats and cheeses can fill in for the real thing.Any kind of veggie can be used as the main course  and can even translate into barbecue fare. Those stuffed peppers and tomatoes can be grilled and provide for a more filling meal. Sandwiches stuffed with grilled veggies such as eggplant, peppers and onions  make for  tasty picnic fare.

It's easy to go vegan come Spring. The holy days and holidays can jump start a compassionate diet. This leads to a compassionate lifestyle where all life is sacred.

Steeped Coffee A New Brew To Love

We love coffee. It's just that simple. Yet we hate making it, going for easy ways, from Keurig pods to instant. These are OK, but not so flavorful. Now there's a new coffee - appropriately called Steeped that's sweeping java lovers off their feet.

Steeped is an unusual coffee in the sense that it comes in teabag like sachets. These are bigger than teabags, more like a mammoth sized bag. The instructions are simple. Submerge. Saturate. Steep.It's a great coffee to bring to work, on vacation and even on picnics. What I like about it there are no grounds or dregs to deal with after it's all gone.It's precision ground and nitro sealed for the best taste possible.I love this coffee, - its' taste is the best I've tasted in a long time.

 There are

                Driftwood,a French Roast, Odyssey  Blend Dark Roast  and California Medium Roast

There is also the Sunrise Blend Light Roast and Eventide Decaf. My favorite is the Driftwood which has a creamy dark chocolate flavor  which makes for an excellent hot and cold drink. I also like the fruity Decaf too. Steeped Coffee's roasts all have a lovely sweet caramelized flavor that makes it down right delicious. It's worth getting their monthly subscription.

Steeped Coffee is the next wave of instantly brewed coffees. They are one of the best tasting brews today. Try them and enjoy their amazing flavor.

CBD Teas The Latest Trend

CBD or cannabidiol is everywhere these days. It can be found in lotions, shampoos, edibles and now potables. CBD Living has added three flavorful loose leaf teas to its' long list of CBD products. Are they any special than regular loose leaf brands? Not really? Are they flavorful? Absolutely.

CBD Living manufactures a wide variety of CBD products. There the edibles which include milk and dark chocolate bars, tinctures, soaps, lotions and even suppositories. Their teas are loose leaf and , popular right now. They come in an array of flavors, from matcha to blackberry. I love tea so I had to try three flavors that appealed to me.

Their chai tumeric tea is the best chai I've had in a long while. The mix contains 150 mg of CBD (a cup has only seven All CBD Living's teas have this amount added) but also has turmeric along with organic ginger and cinnamon chips plus orange peel for a nice citrus aftertaste.

Another favorite is the coconut which is loaded with coconut shred and extract.It is blended with green Rooibis Tea and full spectrum hemp extract - which is the pure oil extracted from the hemp plant. It has a lovely tropical taste and the tea would be good iced on a hot summer's day

Another fruity flavor that not only soothing but delicious is the mango herbal tea. This drink has mango extract as its' top note flavor and organic dried peach as the bottom note which give the tea a bright, fruity flavor. As with the coconut there is also full spectrum hemp extract. Again this would be a great iced tea during the warmer months.Next on my list are their other teas - matcha , Berry Black and Passion Green.

CBD Living Loose Leaf Teas are the perfect antidote to today's super busy world. Brew them, and enjoy the rich flavor and the calming effect they have. It's like a vacation in a cup.

Food Treks

Foodies love to try all sorts of different food. They travel the globe enjoying the flavors of a country. It may be pasta in Tuscany or sushi in Osaka. Travel companies and guides have  up picked up on this and now offering food based trips. It goes far and wide, from walrus meat in Siberia to blackeyed pea stew in Ghana.

New York Times restaurant critic ,Ligaya Mishan, took a break from writing reviews to explore the new trend in foodie traveling. We have Anthony Bourdain to thank for this adventurous spirit. He gave Americans the courage and curiosity to go off the beaten path while on vacation and sample street fare and trying tasting menus in private homes. Attempts to follow Chef Bourdain's itinerary are typically orchestrated by by small, indy tour operators. They also have roots in the place so they know to bring visitors to home chefs selling pho from their kitchens or small business owners that also make sandwiches or kabobs on  a small stove at the back of their shops.Now international tour  companies are taking notice and planning their own culinary treks. One of the highest profile  contenders, the Monacan based Silversea, who has just partnered with cruise giant Royal Caribbean has planned a new 596 (!) passenger ship built expressly for culinary voyages.It will have a test kitchen that doubles as a clubhouse. However that launches a year from now in 2020.

Gastro-pilgrims, as they're sometimes called, won't wait. There are so many different tours right now, catering to the whopping ninety-three percent (!)food travelers.These are people who are not satisfied with local buffets. They want cooking  classes in Oaxaca, and even trips to floating markets like the one in Kashmir. More and more tour operators are  also trying to give these travelers a sense of substance of the lives of their chefs and servers.Mexico City food tour coordinator, Rocio Vazquez Landeta of Eat Like A Local is conscious of the class discrepancy between her tourists and the food vendors they visit. She makes a point of paying vendors full price for their goods and time spent making the foods instead of demanding discounts like other tour guides do. She has also hired an English tutor for the vendors' kids who at eight and eleven, are already working with their parents.She tips them for weekend tours they conduct.Then there is Mona Boyd, the Arkansas born founder of Landtours in Accra, Ghana. She arranged for small tour groups to not only dine with local home chefs but also to cook with them. An informal setting like this can foster a more candid cultural exchange. However , all homes and situations have to be vetted. Tourists can't get sick drinking unpurified water or freak out when they see the home chef accidentally drop the main course on a dirty floor.

It's now possible for foodies to travel the world looking for their wildest culinary adventures.The world is their oyster. Literally.