One of the greatest chefs is archiving decade after decade of her works. Diana Kennedy, a contemporary of Julia Child and the chef who introduced Americans to true Mexican food is packing up her endless array of recipes and cookbooks. The University Of Texas at San Antonio will be the lucky recipient of not only her dishes but of her collection of 19th Century Mexican cookbooks. It will be a bonus to any culinary major studying at the school.
Tejal Rao, an impressive chef in her own right, conducted the interview with the English born Ms. Kennedy for today's New York Times Food section.It wasn't that long ago when Ms. Kennedy
was out on the road in her pick up truck to research recipes. Mind you she is ninety-six and she has two artificial hips.Her attitude is no nonsense British, having been born in Loughton Essex, and even chastised Ms. Rao for wanting snacks on the trip.She is ferocious, brilliant and uncompromising and
has been described as prickly (another Brit chef and cookbook writer, , Gordon Ramsey comes to mind with those descriptions)). Living in Mexico has her keeping a 25 caliber pistol under her pillow. She didn't start out here. After the Second World War, she emigrated to Canada in
1953, then to Mexico in 1957. She met her husband, Paul Kennedy ,a foreign correspondent for The New York Times during a trip to Haiti. Theirs was a powerful relationship , only to be cut short a decade later when he died of cancer. They moved to Manhattan so he could receive better medical treatment.
After her husband's death, Ms. Kennedy taught Mexican cooking classes out of her New York apartment. The famed New York Times restaurant critic, Craig Claiborne attended one of those classes. It was centered around a Yucatecan dish of papadzules. He wrote about it in The Times, listing several Manhattan shops where readers could find sour oranges and fresh cilantro, along with pepitas so home chefs could make their own pumpkin seed oil. Editors in New York, encouraged her to write a Mexican cookbook - a rarity in those days, Yet how could she do that without reporting it properly without contextualizing the recipes. To her they weren't just lists of ingredients and steps but much, much more. They were crucial , regional histories and socio-economic documents, records of ecological diversity. She sat with families and recorded their recipes with a dogged , journalistic approach. This is what makes her collection so valuable. There are not just dishes written down but notes, carefully organized by Mexican state and year. Rightly she feels that cookbook writing is undervalued , considering the amount of work that goes into it.
Diana Kennedy is leaving a valuable gift and lessons to future culinary students at the University of Texas. Her collection is a rare gift inside regional Mexican cooking. May it be followed and enjoyed , along with being parsed and studied for decades to come.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
The First Barbecue of The Season
With Memorial Day comes barbecues and guests. The barbecue is usually the first of the season. For some it's their first planned barbecue. What will be on the menu? New dishes or traditional? Recipes that are more nutritional or fun?
This is what I will be dealing with since this is my first planned barbecue in a long time. I still have to get a grill. It'll probably come from Wal-Mart and be something simple.This has to be easy to store too (unless we have a warm winter ahead of us and then there's some extra barbecue days). Another point to ponder - do I go with easy to use but carcinogenic charcoal or fragrant but hard to light at times wood chips.I would like to go with the wood chips , because they are safer along with giving the meat a lovely flavor. Then there is that question. Vegan or meat. I will probably go with the first.Target has Beyond Beef which will probably be the patty of choice. This looks and tastes like the real thing and it's the one food I want to try. Now comes the bun question. Do I go with the sweet Hawaiian ones or the doughy , crusty sesame seed kind. Luckily the condiment is straight forward. Ketchup - mustard, maybe tomato slices and possibly grilled romaine leaves.I'll also have some slices of soy cheddar for cheeseburgers.
One of the biggest headaches to tackle is what to serve as sides.Three bean salad? Not a good choice for guests with stomach problems. Tomato salad is always a good choice but so is string bean salad, especially if fresh ones are used.Potato salad is a barbecue must, yet it comes with a few question marks.Do I get it from the store where it is good or do I make the family one that is a bit elaborate to create.The last comes with chopped celery and sliced hard boiled eggs. There is a Sicilian style that I'd like to try - it has cherry tomatoes and sliced red onions. A vinaigrette is subbed in for the mayo.There is still a lot of work to it, not as much as the traditional recipe however. The only cooking comes with boiling russet potatoes. The dessert has been decided. I will be making an ice cream loaf cake.It'll be layering soy ice cream with crushed chocolate wafers.Hard shell topping and vegan whipped cream will decorate it.Should there be s'mores? Maybe next time.
Barbecue season is here.Let's hope it literally doesn't go up in smoke.Let"s hope it's a season of good food and good fun.
This is what I will be dealing with since this is my first planned barbecue in a long time. I still have to get a grill. It'll probably come from Wal-Mart and be something simple.This has to be easy to store too (unless we have a warm winter ahead of us and then there's some extra barbecue days). Another point to ponder - do I go with easy to use but carcinogenic charcoal or fragrant but hard to light at times wood chips.I would like to go with the wood chips , because they are safer along with giving the meat a lovely flavor. Then there is that question. Vegan or meat. I will probably go with the first.Target has Beyond Beef which will probably be the patty of choice. This looks and tastes like the real thing and it's the one food I want to try. Now comes the bun question. Do I go with the sweet Hawaiian ones or the doughy , crusty sesame seed kind. Luckily the condiment is straight forward. Ketchup - mustard, maybe tomato slices and possibly grilled romaine leaves.I'll also have some slices of soy cheddar for cheeseburgers.
One of the biggest headaches to tackle is what to serve as sides.Three bean salad? Not a good choice for guests with stomach problems. Tomato salad is always a good choice but so is string bean salad, especially if fresh ones are used.Potato salad is a barbecue must, yet it comes with a few question marks.Do I get it from the store where it is good or do I make the family one that is a bit elaborate to create.The last comes with chopped celery and sliced hard boiled eggs. There is a Sicilian style that I'd like to try - it has cherry tomatoes and sliced red onions. A vinaigrette is subbed in for the mayo.There is still a lot of work to it, not as much as the traditional recipe however. The only cooking comes with boiling russet potatoes. The dessert has been decided. I will be making an ice cream loaf cake.It'll be layering soy ice cream with crushed chocolate wafers.Hard shell topping and vegan whipped cream will decorate it.Should there be s'mores? Maybe next time.
Barbecue season is here.Let's hope it literally doesn't go up in smoke.Let"s hope it's a season of good food and good fun.
Monday, May 20, 2019
Moby's Is Open
One of the best aspects of the season is when Moby's Lobster Deck opens. This is a division of one of my all time favorite restaurants, Bahr's. This century year old famed eatery is a great place for seafood for the fall and winter.
Every meal comes with a small plate of their warm homemade Bisquick biscuits, loaded with butter. My favorite is their shrimp cocktail and Manhattan clam chowder.
Now Moby's is open with the same delicious dishes that Bahr's has.
Moby's was started by the great-grandson' of the owners. It has everything from burgers and dogs to cod sandwiches and again, my favorite Manhattan clam chowder and chilled shrimp. The last has a herb coating that just accentuates the briny flavor.
Moby's is open. Head down to the Atlantic Highlands, Enjoy the beaches, sand and surf. Most of all though, enjoy this summer staple.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Beyond Meat The Start Of Something
The talk all this past week revolved around a simple patty. Why was is so special? Because It's Beyond Meat and not only tastes like beef but has the same texture too. Will it spark a vegan revolution? Possibly.
Beyond Meat is a far far cry from when vegan meat products first came on the market. Thirty years ago you had to visit a health food store to get so so tasting hotdogs and burgers. Some stores , such as The Happy Carrot in River Edge, NJ made a vegan tuna salad using soy, celery and some kind of vegan mayo that was eggless. The tuna salad was passable in taste and texture but you wouldn't want to eat it every day. Vegan restaurants were scarce. Forget the fast food chains. You could order a hamburger, hold the meat at McDonald's. That was it. Slowly but surely vegan foods started to appear in supermarkets. With each decade there was improvement. Companies such as Morningstar Farms and Gardein started to pop up with a cornucopia of soy based "meats'. There was bacon that sort of tasted like the real thing, better than bacon because there was no grease to deal with. The chicken nuggets tasted like the real thing. Gardein nailed it with their hamburgers and fish fillets which taste like the real deal.
Now there is Beyond Meat. The company is not new. It has been around since 2009, started by Ethan Brown in Los Angeles, CA.It's making the news now because Mr. Brown has come up with a plant based "meat" that can easily be subbed in for actual beef. His creation, will no doubt, have Morningstar Farms and Gardein worried, especially if more and more supermarkets and big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target carry it. Mr Brown's mission is simple . He wants people to forgo any kind of meat to save animals , save the planet and save his fellow human beings from cancer and heart disease. A plant based diet will cut down on slaughter along with positively influencing climate change and garnering more green land. People who eat less animal protein will have lower cholesterol and less of a chance of getting certain types of cancer. The burgers are already served at Harvard and Carl's Junior. TGIFriday's also has the Beyond Meat faux beef along with Del Taco.
What is the meat made from? There is no soy, but cellulose from bamboo along with pea protein and refined coconut oil. The red beefy color comes from beet extract along with annatto, natural food coloring that originates from the tropical plant achiote.
Ethan Brown may be the force behind the new wave of veganism. He may make us forget the real beef deal to go for his Beyond Meat. What that means is only good - a planet that is less climate challenged along with less slaughter and less disease.
Beyond Meat is a far far cry from when vegan meat products first came on the market. Thirty years ago you had to visit a health food store to get so so tasting hotdogs and burgers. Some stores , such as The Happy Carrot in River Edge, NJ made a vegan tuna salad using soy, celery and some kind of vegan mayo that was eggless. The tuna salad was passable in taste and texture but you wouldn't want to eat it every day. Vegan restaurants were scarce. Forget the fast food chains. You could order a hamburger, hold the meat at McDonald's. That was it. Slowly but surely vegan foods started to appear in supermarkets. With each decade there was improvement. Companies such as Morningstar Farms and Gardein started to pop up with a cornucopia of soy based "meats'. There was bacon that sort of tasted like the real thing, better than bacon because there was no grease to deal with. The chicken nuggets tasted like the real thing. Gardein nailed it with their hamburgers and fish fillets which taste like the real deal.
Now there is Beyond Meat. The company is not new. It has been around since 2009, started by Ethan Brown in Los Angeles, CA.It's making the news now because Mr. Brown has come up with a plant based "meat" that can easily be subbed in for actual beef. His creation, will no doubt, have Morningstar Farms and Gardein worried, especially if more and more supermarkets and big box stores like Wal-Mart and Target carry it. Mr Brown's mission is simple . He wants people to forgo any kind of meat to save animals , save the planet and save his fellow human beings from cancer and heart disease. A plant based diet will cut down on slaughter along with positively influencing climate change and garnering more green land. People who eat less animal protein will have lower cholesterol and less of a chance of getting certain types of cancer. The burgers are already served at Harvard and Carl's Junior. TGIFriday's also has the Beyond Meat faux beef along with Del Taco.
What is the meat made from? There is no soy, but cellulose from bamboo along with pea protein and refined coconut oil. The red beefy color comes from beet extract along with annatto, natural food coloring that originates from the tropical plant achiote.
Ethan Brown may be the force behind the new wave of veganism. He may make us forget the real beef deal to go for his Beyond Meat. What that means is only good - a planet that is less climate challenged along with less slaughter and less disease.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Huel As Fuel
Eating right is hard. It's trying to get the least amount of calories and the most amount of nutrients plus a good dollop of flavor. What food has this? Huel protein shake. This is for the person on the go who wants to have the proper amount of vitamin and minerals.
I had heard so much about it , I decided to give it a try. I ordered the vanilla and chocolate along with the flavor pack and shaker,
Huel has some neat flavor packs, from mocha to chai, and from strawberry to caramel and even chocolate.
I had heard so much about it , I decided to give it a try. I ordered the vanilla and chocolate along with the flavor pack and shaker,
I bought the premixed vanilla and paired it with the cinnamon apple. It wasn't bad flavor-wise. Huel's drinks also come in chocolate and berry. Surprisingly it's made with pea protein along with tapioca. There's also flax seed and oat powder too along with a host of vitamins and minerals. Another plus is it's full of fiber too.
This is the chocolate that I zinged up with chocolate mint.
Huel has some neat flavor packs, from mocha to chai, and from strawberry to caramel and even chocolate.
This is the Huel shaker. It just takes two cups of the powder, some ice cubes and a cup of water. It makes for a well rounded meal with only four hundred calories. I plan on drinking it to lose some weight for shorts and bathing suit weather.
Huel right now is being sold only on line where twenty-four bottles are $89.00 but will last a month if you're careful. The bags are almost four pounds in weight and give seventeen servings per bag. It's $56.00 for it but it's the same as for a day's worth of groceries.
Huel is definitely the way to go if you want a full meal loaded with vitamins and minerals. It's an easy eat and perfect for the active days ahead. Try this delicious mix of flavor and nutrients for a boost .
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Chef In The Cafeteria
School cafeteria food has always had a bad rap. The food was always borderline nutritional along with being questionable - mystery meat anyone? However one chef is changing that. Will there be healthy A worthy meals? Yes!
Amy Thomas, a well known food writer and author of Brooklyn In Love : A Delicious Memoir of Food Family, and Finding Yourself and Paris, My Sweet: A Year In The City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) interviewed Dan Giusti, the head chef of the internationally known and acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. Now his audience isn't the international glam crowd, but high school students in the Bronx. He felt a growing need to make an impact on people's lives rather than their palates. He started a company Brigaid which aims to overhaul school meals by putting professional chefs in cafeterias and replacing processed foods with wholesome cooking. Before landing in one of the city's busiest boroughs, Chef Giusti changed the way New London Connecticut students ate. He introduced them to kale Caesar salad and homemade hummus. Even though it was popular ,peanut butter and jelly was taken off the menu.This was done in order for the kids to try different dishes.It was added back on with sunflower seed butter instead.
Now he's cooking and expanding the palate of Bronx students. There have been small victories, namely in getting the kids to eat fresh fruit.The apples that were given out to meet the US Department of Agriculture were routinely tossed. Now the cafeteria staff dices up strawberries, watermelon and pineapples along with other fruits every morning. It may cost a little more to serve these but they're worth it . Chef Giusto had to beg the federal government for the extra. Each lunch costs $3.44 where the fruit is an added cost. With the addition of staff and food, the prices is a little more than a dollar. There are streamlined models in which cafeteria staff can have a fifty-five day training program where schools are taught how to set up their own kitchens and handle food safely. They also are taught a repertoire of scratch recipes that have to pass muster with The National School Lunch Program. Chef Giusti hopes that the next generation of school chefs come from culinary schools and not just from the restaurant and food service industries.
Will this new wave in cafeteria food catch on? Hopefully it will. There 's a generation of kids who do want to try something new and something healthy. A school cafeteria might just provide them with those.
Amy Thomas, a well known food writer and author of Brooklyn In Love : A Delicious Memoir of Food Family, and Finding Yourself and Paris, My Sweet: A Year In The City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) interviewed Dan Giusti, the head chef of the internationally known and acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. Now his audience isn't the international glam crowd, but high school students in the Bronx. He felt a growing need to make an impact on people's lives rather than their palates. He started a company Brigaid which aims to overhaul school meals by putting professional chefs in cafeterias and replacing processed foods with wholesome cooking. Before landing in one of the city's busiest boroughs, Chef Giusti changed the way New London Connecticut students ate. He introduced them to kale Caesar salad and homemade hummus. Even though it was popular ,peanut butter and jelly was taken off the menu.This was done in order for the kids to try different dishes.It was added back on with sunflower seed butter instead.
Now he's cooking and expanding the palate of Bronx students. There have been small victories, namely in getting the kids to eat fresh fruit.The apples that were given out to meet the US Department of Agriculture were routinely tossed. Now the cafeteria staff dices up strawberries, watermelon and pineapples along with other fruits every morning. It may cost a little more to serve these but they're worth it . Chef Giusto had to beg the federal government for the extra. Each lunch costs $3.44 where the fruit is an added cost. With the addition of staff and food, the prices is a little more than a dollar. There are streamlined models in which cafeteria staff can have a fifty-five day training program where schools are taught how to set up their own kitchens and handle food safely. They also are taught a repertoire of scratch recipes that have to pass muster with The National School Lunch Program. Chef Giusti hopes that the next generation of school chefs come from culinary schools and not just from the restaurant and food service industries.
Will this new wave in cafeteria food catch on? Hopefully it will. There 's a generation of kids who do want to try something new and something healthy. A school cafeteria might just provide them with those.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Persian Best
Persian cooking is one of the oldest in the world, yet the flavors are vibrant and fresh.It's a cuisine of color and brightness, texture and flavor. It incorporates a multitude of herbs and even flowers to create different and unique tastes.
The ultimate Persian-American chef, Samin Nosrat gave the New York Times Food section a wide array of the different dishes she grew up on.Ms Nosrat who writes regularly for The Times and Sunday magazine also has a Netflix show "Salt Fat Acid Heat" where she deconstructs cooking. She and her brothers embraced all things American yet they came home to a strictly Persian home. There were Saturday lessons in Farsi,setar music and celebrating the Persian New Year Nowruz. The biggest influence were the recipes her mother brought with them. For the article which contains a cross section of the best of their recipes Ms. Nosrat relied on family recipes along consulting with Iranian cooks .(Iranian and Persian can be interchangeable although there are differences). Ms. Nosrat's family comes from the northern part where herbs are a mainstay. They're treated like a vegetable which explains the huge amounts in the recipes. One kuku sabzi - a Persian herb frittata - has a pound of cilantro and Italian parsley . A yogurt dish has a wide variety of parsley , dill, tarragon and basil.
This is my favorite issue . I was excited to see the recipes and plan on making a few.The first on my list is the kuku sabzi.It's an interesting mix of herbs with eggs, butter and even baking soda.Some ingredients such as barberries ,I'll have to get through Amazon. There are also leeks and fenugreek added. The greens are cooked first , cooled and then added to egg mix. Another must cook is the polo ba tahdig ,a giant rice cake - which comes with some fun instructions. Ms. Nosrat writes on flipping it by first gathering up your courage and praising your ancestors.A dish for a cool Spring night is the khoresh-e ghormeh which is a Persian herb bean and lamb stew.Of course it has a pound of cilantro and Italian parsley but also has a pound and a half of lamb shoulder along with turmeric and kidney beans. It is a lengthy cook, taking three hours . Ms. Nosrat also gives us a chicken stew that's sweetened with both pomegranate juice and molasses.Ground walnuts are also added. As a side there is mast-o khiar a Persian cucumber and herb yogurt that is a mix of herbs,raisins, and dried rose petals.
Persian cooking is must have experience for any home or professional chef. It is a whirl of colors and flavors, textures and tastes. Make some of these amazing recipes now.
The ultimate Persian-American chef, Samin Nosrat gave the New York Times Food section a wide array of the different dishes she grew up on.Ms Nosrat who writes regularly for The Times and Sunday magazine also has a Netflix show "Salt Fat Acid Heat" where she deconstructs cooking. She and her brothers embraced all things American yet they came home to a strictly Persian home. There were Saturday lessons in Farsi,setar music and celebrating the Persian New Year Nowruz. The biggest influence were the recipes her mother brought with them. For the article which contains a cross section of the best of their recipes Ms. Nosrat relied on family recipes along consulting with Iranian cooks .(Iranian and Persian can be interchangeable although there are differences). Ms. Nosrat's family comes from the northern part where herbs are a mainstay. They're treated like a vegetable which explains the huge amounts in the recipes. One kuku sabzi - a Persian herb frittata - has a pound of cilantro and Italian parsley . A yogurt dish has a wide variety of parsley , dill, tarragon and basil.
This is my favorite issue . I was excited to see the recipes and plan on making a few.The first on my list is the kuku sabzi.It's an interesting mix of herbs with eggs, butter and even baking soda.Some ingredients such as barberries ,I'll have to get through Amazon. There are also leeks and fenugreek added. The greens are cooked first , cooled and then added to egg mix. Another must cook is the polo ba tahdig ,a giant rice cake - which comes with some fun instructions. Ms. Nosrat writes on flipping it by first gathering up your courage and praising your ancestors.A dish for a cool Spring night is the khoresh-e ghormeh which is a Persian herb bean and lamb stew.Of course it has a pound of cilantro and Italian parsley but also has a pound and a half of lamb shoulder along with turmeric and kidney beans. It is a lengthy cook, taking three hours . Ms. Nosrat also gives us a chicken stew that's sweetened with both pomegranate juice and molasses.Ground walnuts are also added. As a side there is mast-o khiar a Persian cucumber and herb yogurt that is a mix of herbs,raisins, and dried rose petals.
Persian cooking is must have experience for any home or professional chef. It is a whirl of colors and flavors, textures and tastes. Make some of these amazing recipes now.
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