An Easy Winter's Night Meal

 This should be the month for no fuss cooking.Recipes should be simple but filling. One way is to do this is using polenta.It's a great way to add to any meal, especially if it's paired with a simple saute.

I had this in mind (after being influenced by David' Tanis' recipes in Wednesday 's New York Times food section. A polenta log can be sliced and tastes the best fried on a griddle.

I fried them in Melt plant butter for flavor and crispness. You could make polenta the old fashioned way, in a big pot but this is constantly storring it. It could stick and even burn. Buying the logs is a better way of preparing it without all that fuss.. You can also slice and fry up the polenta the next day too.

As for the saute, I've had enough of the traditional tomato  sauce that usually goes with it. A nice spinach and mushrroom sauce would work with this. It had the added bonus of kale in the mix. I used about two to three cups of the combined greens , about  sixteen ounces and about four cups of already cut baby bella mushrooms.It was cooking the mushrooms in a mix of olive oil and Melt plant butter. Halfway through I added about a cup of veggie stock for a kind of gravy and generous lashings of garlic powder ,salt and pepper. After the Baby Bellas were cooked for about fifteen minutes the spinach and kale were added.

This  was cooked for about ten minutes until soft and  turned a deep emerald green.

The end result was an amazing dinner. full of good for you ingredients and flavor.

It rreally was the perfect meal , so easy to create and just right for a frosty evening. You can vary it with a pinch of red pepper or cayenne. Add vegan sausages or any kind of meat for a heartier dinner. Better yet it was great for a hot lunch the next day.

This is the month for simple cooking and eating. Try this tasty saute with polenta rounds for a filling and easy dinner.It's a delicious way to kick back in the kitchen.

Replacements Ltd The Place To Find Vintage

 What happens when a beloved plate or cup is smashed? Most of the time you can just run to department or big box store and pick up a replacement.Yet what happens when that vintage platter or serving dish gets accidnetally dropped.Luckily there's a company that stocks all vintage ware.Replacements Ltd. is an amaxing site wit some beautiful dinner, flat  and stem ware.

I discovered them when my vintage Corelle Butterfly Gold  patterned plates were accidentally smashed making Christmas Eve dinner. Yes I was crushed. Those plates are almost sixty years old, and a link to my Mom.It was heartbreaking to see those pieces.being swept into the garbage. I quickly Googled the pattern and Replacements LTd came up. I was able to replace the plates and received them in a few days, depsite it being the holiday week.

The replacememnt is exactly like the original, the Butterfly Gold which has always been there in my life.They were only $23. a plate and well worth it. There is even matching cereal bowls as well as bowls for serving veggies. I wouldn't mind buying these to complete the set.I may also consider getting a new set of cups with the pattern since I only have two left.

The site is amazing with all sorts of discontinued brands and items. They even have a jewelry section with Victorian earrings.This is the go to site for  hard to find Lennox and Waterford patterns. Keep in mind that these brands, as always are super expensive Pfaltzgraff another top brand is $300 for a forty piece set. A Waterford MIllenium water goblet  which has been discontinued is $300 (!) a goblet. There is a lovely forty  piece Oneidaware estate set that's a whopping $749.95 yet worth it. Having thany ofhtese pieces brings about a certain elegance to home entertaining and serve as perfect frames for beautiful recipes and wines.I'ts a great site to look for wedding and engagement gifts as well because heritage and legacy pieces never go out of style. Any couple would probably love to have Lennoxware or delciately cut wine and cocktail glasses. The shipping is not that much.

If you need to replace that special plate or flute then visit Replacments Ltd. They have a dazzling array of beauitful and discontinued dinner ,flat and stem ware. They can make any set compelte again.

Easy Winter Dishes

 The best thing about January is that it's a time to relax. Gone are the hectic holiday meals and harried work days leading itno parties. It's simply a month to just take it easy. That also applies to cooking.  A simple and easy meal and dessert is all you need.

Regular contributor David Tanis wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Food section. He believes on easing up on cooking and baking yet retaining flavor.It also doesn;t have to feel restrictive either and if you want to keep it festive then do so. he offers three dishes - carrot -leek soup with miso followed by baked fish with mushrooms and ginger. Dessert is  triple sesame tea cakes. Mr. Tabis uses Asian pantry staples like miso and ginger for the savory dn toasted sesame oil for the cookies.The influence gives all three recipes oomph and elevates them from just plain winter dishes to something special despite their easiness. The soup starts with a homemade vegetable broth made from the leeks and carrots. They're  first sauteed in butter  and then simmered in salted water to create a fragrant broth.Both sare preed to gether for a creamy mouth feel and then the miso is added,It can be yellow or white however the yellow is saltier . If you want to taste te veggies then use the white instead.

As for the dush Mr. Tanis recommends eihter halibut, bass or grouper. They;'re baked in just salt and pepper. while they're baking make the mushrooms. These are shiitake ones, without the stems cooked in soy sauce and ginger. This sauce is then spooned over the fishn and put back into the oven to be baked fo twenty minutes at or an  additional twenty to twenty-five minutes. You could sprinkle on scallions and cilantro springs for color and more flavor. Make sure to pou any gingery pan juicings over the fish. End the meal with simple triple sesame tea cookies.This is an easy cookie dough enhanced with the toasted seasame seed oil along with tahini or sesame paste.Te liquids are blended first with  a mix of  flour  and baking powder slowly added in later. It's then rolling the dough into walnut sized  balls followed by rolling them in sesame seeds. Bake them for twenty minutes at 350 degree Farenheit. A nice drink for this meal would be a hot  ginger or green tea ,

Janiary should be a simple time with easy meals. Make these recipes for that simplicity  but with flavor. They're a great meal that can be easy to make and delicious to eat.

A Legend Says Good Bye

 One of the most innovative restaurants in the last twenty  years is Noma in Copenhagen.Next year, 2024 is going is going to be it's last as a popular eatery.It will come back , with the same innovative food and original recipes. Yet it won't be the same.

The New York Times Food critic Pete Wells wrote about this legend of a restaurant in today's New York Times Food section. He was lucky to get reservations (although he had to piggy back his with a friend's) when he reviewed it in 2018.The top chef and owner Rene Redzepi took Nordic cooking and turned it on its' ear. It's a mix of new and old, with bringing in traditional ingredients and using them in different ways. He used the bright orange berries of the sea buckthorn and used them in all sorts fo recipes from jams to cocktails. Chef Redzepi and his assistants foraged wood sorrell and other plants , long used in Scandanavian cooking and made it a part of the new Nordic cooking manifesto. He used burning hay to perfume certain ingredients along with using parsnips instead of fruit in desserts(!) Noma made a big deal of serving  a variety of pickled foods as an appetizer. Even Chef Redzepi also renamed the appetizers, calling them snacks. 

Other restaurants like El Bulli in Spain and Chez Panisse have dozens of imitators and both eateries have given chefs inspiration with all sort of dishes. Yet it's Noma that all turn to for ideas. They can copy it's use of slates, rocks, seashells (!) longs and mismatched pieces of hand hewn pottery. There are influences from modern Scandanavian furtniture to not serving tomatoes in anything as Noma does. Yet as much as they copy  they cannot get it compeltely right. Mr. Werlls desctibes having a dish painted with edible paint in the shape of an iridescent starfish covered with the sparkling roe of Danish trout. Yet according to him its excellence may be inseparable from the culture of overkill. Maybe once Chef Redzepi gets rod of those "pesky diners" he can work on newer innovations and more original recipes that reflect the Nordic heritage. Or maybe he 'll be influenced by Asian cooking since Noma is now in Japan. He coud easily use sea weed in a new way or reinvent sushi or tempura,

Noma may only have a year but it will probably be a glorious one. Diners from all over th e world  still want to try its' innovative dishes. It still has spark and the ability to change the food world.

Home Chef Goals

It's a new year and with it come new goals for everything in life. Home chefs should take these to heart . Have something to look foward to doing and then stick to doing it. It can be anything from trying a new cuisine to mastering some culinary craft.

Tis is what I have planned for myself. Caribbean cooking and baking has always intrigued me and this will be the year (and hopefully soon) to try cooking callaloo and possibly attempting a tofu jerk.This is turning a traditionally meat dish into something vegan. Another Caribbean must try is Trinidadian sweet bread. I was curious about it when I first heard about this fruitcake like bread.It has frozen coconut along with currents  evaporated milk, raisins and candied cherries in it. I have had luck with sweet breads in the past so it shouldn't be that hard to make and bake.Another home chef or rather home baker goal for me is upping my cookie game. I've had two major Christmas cookie disasters recently, probably becaused I used vegan sub in for eggs and butter. I want to create a cookie that crisp and light while packing flavor. I don't ever want to deal with a crumbly , unmanagable dough  again. A smaller goal is possibly buying cute cookie cutters in different shape and sizes and working with colored chocolate for decorating.

All home chefs should set some kind fo goal. It doens;t have to be met right away. It could involve smokingbrisket  n the grill during the Spring and summer months. You can spend these colder months reading up; on recipes and which one to try. Many look through those new cookbooks they received for Christmas and Hannukah and pick out recipes they want to try, Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be a new cookbook. There may be a cookbook you haven't looked through in years. Check the recipes out. Try the ones you haven;t attempted for something different. Another fun goal is taking culinary classes.Enroll in a course  if you're fascinated by Middle Eastern cuisine or want to learn the intricacies of French pastry making. Again check on line for classes and if they're in your area.  Some bakeries offer classes for cake and cupcake decorating while many night schools offer affordable classes on various cuisines.Sign up now before all the spots are taken. There are also one on one classes however these can be pricy depending upon the instructor's availabilty. Research first before you sign up.

It's always fun and improtant to set goals for yourelf. Carry that into the kitchen. Try a new cuisine or promise yourself to experiment with a different technique. You'll be pleased with the results.

The Early American Cooking Channel

 Have you ever wondered how home chefs managed to create tasty and sustainable meals two centuries ago?  How did they cook without air fryers and microwaves? Well, there's this YouTube channel , Early American that explains everything. Imagine a cooking show form the Federalist period to 1830

I disocvered this channel only yesterday (and I;m late to the party on some of the videos). It was mind blowing and fascinating along with being weirdly calming. The main cook and baker is Justine who actually cooks in a log cabin. She is wearing period clothing - an Empire style  dress and a very long apron which serves as double duty to protect her clothes and carry scraps out to the chickens. (Yes, there is a small flock of chickens outside), There is no chirpy dialogue with these videos , no jazzy music or fun banter. You hear Justine cutting up veggies or her butter and milk sizzling over a fire There is the sound fo her whisking eggs with a straw(!) whisk. The implements are simple themselves. Liquids and batters are mixed in earthernware bowls. There is only one , rather lethal looking knife that does all the heavy kitchen duty. There are no ovens or  stoves. Everything is cooked over a fire or wirh hot coals. This is the most fascinating to me. Justine puts tins or literally  cups (for cupcakes) in a pot. A lid is put on it and then hot coals are expertly shoveled on top to create a kind of convection oven. The cakes and cupcakes come out OK.

The recipes or receipts as they were called are flashed across the screen at the end of each video. Most are from The Frugal Housewife and  The Cook's Oracle. Can thye be replicated in the modern kitchen? Yes, but keep in mind that they're made with very basic ingredients. This is the kind of food that a Young America ate . influenced prinarily by Britain. The spicings are very simple., mostly salt  and pepper for the savory foods with mustard being included in some recipes. The cupcakes seemed to be the most flavorful, with a kind of gingerbread vibe thanks to molasses, mace, cloves and a lot fo dried ginger being used. I was fascinated by her bacon rice curry that had a pinch of cayenne and a good tabelspoon of curry powder in it. I'm just wondering where they got cayenne pepper back then. Was it with trade from the Caribbean? The same with the curry. I imagine a general store in the early 1800's may have had it on occassion. Another questionable aspect is the meat. I saw her husband Ron shoot a deer for their Christmas dinner video (it wasn't witnessed. You just saw him loading up a musket and then hear it go off). Seeing him dump the body into a cart was disturbing, probably because I am animal rights. Then her chickens - where they used for the fried chicken recipe?  Vegans may be offended by these videos, Vegetarians will be more accepting.Some  recipes can work  for themlike the baked mac and cheese and the golden fried potato balls, 

It's always fun to think about time travel. Home chefs can, thansk to Justine and her huband Ron. Go back two hundred years with Early American. It's a tasty history lesson.

Papa Ganache A New Kind of Bakery

 Veganism is taking a strong hold on the American palate. It's no wonder that vegan bakeries are becoming more popular. They're becoming part of the hometown scene. One New Jersey mini chain Papa Ganache is this offering dairy and egg free treats.

I was lucky to visit the Cranford , New Jersey branch today. The owner , vegan baker and psychotherapist Lisa Siroti founded these good for you bakeries. There are no animal products used which means there's no cholesterol to fret over along with no transfat and  preservatives. It's a small batch bakery meaning the items are baked in smaller quantities than a regular bakery would.

Still there was a lot to choose from. I went in mid afternoon and there was still a good choice of cookies, brownies and baby cakes. (smaller two layer cakes)

They alos have cookie pops. I couldn't resist the cupocakes so I bought the creme brulee and the carrot ones.

I wanted to see if the frosting was as good as my homemade vegan one, I could taste the apple sauce in the creme brule one. I liked the torched raw sugar on top It did add that nice  crunch and burnt flavor that the real creme brule has. The icing was very solid in texture and then melted into creaminess .The carrot cupcakes tasted exactly like their non vegan counterparts. I love the burst of carroty flavor the cake had and the ultra creaminess of the icing. These could easily pass for the non vegan ones. I'm hoping to try their cookies and their big square Neopolitan ones that look like petit fours. Also their vegan bread sounds fascinating too. The pricing is expensive though. Each cupcake was five dollars while  giant cookies are $4.50 each. Smaller cakes start at $30 while a nine inch one is $50. 

Visit Papa Ganache if you're in the quaint and charming town of Cranford or visit their Marawan and Manasquan locations. It's a great place to  try delicious vegan treats.

Papa Ganache Cranford location 106 N>Union Ave.