A Coptic Christmas Feast

 Tomorrow is Christmas in the Coptic Orthodox as well as in the Serbian. Ethiopian and Russian orthodox to name a few. It's a day to feast on lush dishes as well as observe centuries old traditions. 

This sect of the Orthodox Church observe the Julian calendar which predates the Gregorian one that most Christians follow.It actually starts with a fast from November 25th to January 6th and regards all products from animals. This is called the Holy Nativity Fast and it shows not only devotion but self control.At the mass before Christmas Day tonight a bread marked with twelve dots representing the apostles is presented at the church.It's called the qurban. After the fast is broken usually with the fatta -a light soup served with roasted bread vegetables and meat.iI;s usally made with  a lamb stock which can be acidic and also garlicky. There are also hardboiled eggs and cheese to eat too. This prepares families for he big feast on Christmas Day. This consists of roasted turkey or chicken and macaroni in a bechamel or white sauce There is a sesame cookie called kahk made with pistachios and honey alng with ghee or melted butter to give them a rich flavor.

Other Eastern Orthodox countries also observe January 7th Christmas. Serbians also have their take on the Christmas feast. They serve roast pork with either dried cherries or apricots or pecenica served with  sarma fermented cabbage rolls stuffed with  ground meat, rice, eggs and  old bread. They're cooled for twelve hours in a regular pot on the stove top or oven cooked in a clay pot .A fstive mimosa salad is also added to the table. This is kind of live a saovry trifle serve in a glass container so all can see its' layers.The first layer is usually a pickled fish  followed by a tier of cooked and chopped potatoes. Carrots and sliced green onions add another punch of flavor and color. It's topped with a thick layer of grated cheese and mayo. How is the meal finished? With platters of small cakes.  Serbian home bakers will make madarica or Hungarian Maids small layered cakes consisting of biscotti and caramel, They're topped with a rich layer of dark chocolate. Kids and adults alike will love peaches or breskvices  sandwich cookies that look exactly like the fruit. They're baked first, then hollowed out and filled with peach or apricot jam. The coloring comes from first dipping th ewhole cookie in diluted yellow food colring and then dipping the tops in diluted red food coloring. After they're rolled in granuated sugar.     

For those celebrating the Otthodox Christmas     , enjoy the feasts. Enjoy the foods and sweets with family and friends. RCoptic Orthodoxeflect on the day and what it means.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Rouxing The Day

 One of the bases of  a good thick soup is roux. This is a mix of flour cooked into a kind fo sauce with butter.It may sound fancy but it's pretty easy to make.

I wanted it as the base for my celery soup.It's cold weather here and a good thick, soup is just the thing for a frosty  day. I used half a cup or eight tablespoons of Acme's Signature all  purpose flour.

It was cooked with eight tablespoons of Melt plant based butter.

It was lumpy at first and I had to add another tablespoon of Melt. After several figure eight stirs it became a nut brown sauce. It was time to add the veggie broth and mix of celery and potatoes.I also sliced up a clove of garlic and added salt and pepper to enhance the soup's flavor.

It took three cups of celery and a can (around sixteen ounces or about two cups) of sliced potatoes.I also added half a cup of almond milk.

Keep in mind you can also use cow's milk or even cream for a richer flavor along with using real butter.

 

It was simmered over a medium flame until the celery turned a bright, vibrant green. This took about twenty to thirty minutes.

The soup was thick and creamy although you don't really need roux to make it thick.It  did add a lovely flavor to the bowl and I may use it in making a vegan chicken bisque.

Roux is a great way of adding body and flavor to any soup. Try it when you want tomake a thick potage for a cold day.It makes for a wonderful and easy to create base.

Life Changing Recipes

 A new year means a new outlook especially in cooking and baking. You may want to cook vegan or even learn how to cook. You may want to try your hand at baking - finally. yet what recipes to use? Not to worry There are some good ones to give a whirl.

New contributor Tanya Sichynsky Times cooking editor wrote an informative how to with recipes for yesterday's New York Times Food section. She covers simple recipes for those noivce chefs who want tasty but easy along with vegan ones for newly turned herbivores. There's also a section iwth easy baking recipes for those who want to start or hone their baking skills. The recipes come fromthe Food sections' other contributors . Beginners should try Melissa Clark's foolproof fish which is skin on salmon cooked with mustard.The whole dish takes only fifteen minutes to create. There's also her crisp edged quesdadilla for a great weekend meal.Ot's just a fried tortilla stuffed with three kinds of cheeses. For a more Asian bent there is Eric Kim's gye ran bap or egg rice that also has the salty tang of seaweed added.New vegetarians can try Zainah Sha's sheet pan tikka that also has bell peppers and onions spiced and flavored with ghee. Again Melissa Clark offers her vegan red lemtil soup, perfect for January days and beyond. Serve it with Sohla El-Wayily's quinoa and broccoli spoons salad.

A new year means a new stab at baking. Here the recipes don;t fail, in their easiness or tastiness. Everyone will love Scott Loitch's Rice Krispie Treats with Brown Butter. Browned butter heightens the taste ofany baked good , from browmies to cake. Novices can try their hand with it in this simple recipe. They're elevated with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt and colored sprinkles. As home bakers progress they then cna move on to Genevieve Ko's flourless chocolate cake. This is more like a gooey mousse in a way , with a fudgy center, perfect to be served with ice cream ro whipped cream. Then there is Marti Buckley's Basque cheesecake , adapted from her "Basque Country Cookbook.It spares the water bath and is baked at a higher temp than the New York ones.it has a burnished look because of this and has a flavor reminiscent of a toasted marshmallow.It also has the look of a more sophisticated cake despite its'simplicity.

This is the year to try. it can be as simple as try to cook, ro try to bake.It can also be as complex as try to eat healthier . Whatever is decided these recipes are here to help.

Salty Knowledge

 Salt isn't just salt. it could be the granualr sugar like one or flakes of melt in your mouth flavors of the sea. what kind of slat you use is vital to making or breaking any recipe. What;s good to use? Luckily there's a guide.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark wrote about this fascinating seasoning in today's New York Times Food section. We use salt almost daily  and what we use has a prfound effect on our cooking. Using salt as seasoning has been around since Neolithic times when early humans went into eating meat. Humans need it to survive. Sodium chloride or NACl regulates our body fluids and is essential for nerve, muscle and digestive function. Let's face it too - a lot of foods would taste horribly bland and unexciting without a dash of salr. Salt was also used for preserving meats , veggies and cheeses , espcially when global transport started in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The ancient Egyptians used it eve to preserve mummies/. Before mass production in the 20th Century salt was either found in mines or taken from any nearby ocean ro sea. That all changed in the 1900's when iodized salt came into being. Iodized salt , which was mined from salt mines  is important for regulating the thyroid gland.Now  howvermany are ditching that for the tastier flakier salts.

Ms. Clark also a guide to the different salts out there along with a recipe. You can use iodized or table salt for cooking and seasoning.It does have extra chemicals  like dextrose and sodium bicarbonate added to prevent it from clumping.Sometimes it does have a very briny or metallic tang to it.There is also kosher salt which does not need a rabbinical blessing to be used. it;s defined  by its coarse large crystals. These draw out blood from meat, which desalinates the meat.It also makes for a good crust around the meat. Then there are the darlings of the culinary world ; the sea salts.  Home chefs can buy common sea salt which is industrially produced from sea water. Keep in mind thse have additives too, namely anti-caking ones. They can come in grains like table salts or cubes used for pasta water.It has a cleaner flavor than table salt and is used a lot in baking. A better bet is traditional sea salt like fleur de sel, sel gris or flaky sea salt.They're made by evaporating sea salt in hot climates. They don;t have a uniform crystal size or salinity. Most are used in decoarting dishes but also had layers of complexity when being added to any swet or savory recipe. Sea salt flakes are probably the best salt to use. Maldon Sea salt which comes form the town on Maldon England on the Blackwater Estuary gives food a bright snap. They have less minerality than the other sea salts.  There is also fleur de sel, which has salty and bitter notes along with sel gris.it's harvested from the clay bottom hence te name grey salt. You can also try Himalayan pink salt from Pakistain whic has a slightly spicy flavor,

Salt is essential to life. It's also essential in bringing any dish to life. Sea salt is the best bit other work too in making food tastier.

Your Culinary Year Make It Your Best

 With a new year comes new posssibilities and hopes, especially in cooking and baking . Make this the year to try new recipes and ingredients. Be curious.  Be adventurous, but most of all be fun.

One way to try new dishes is to eat out.It's one thing to try recipes you see on the web it's another to experience them at an eatery. You can ask the server or chef what's in it  and how to create it.If the chef is mum with his ro her recipe then carefully look at it. How was it cooked? Broiled? Flambeed? What were the spices used? Did you detect a hint of red wine ro brandy in the sauce? What about the sides? Were they a simple vegetable sauteed in garlic and oil or did they come with their own sauce?Also think about the cuisines you haven't tried yet. Do you want to cook Szechuan? Or French? Do ants climbing a tree or creating scratch crepes appeal to you? if so , then tart cooking. Make sure you have the appropriate gear such as a wok or crepe maker (although a skillet pan can also do the trick for crepes). Do you want to try your hand at creating your own recipes? You can. There's nothing holding you back.

The same philosophy applies to cookbooks. Buy what interests you if you ddin;t receive a book on it for the holidays. I recently picked up The Great British Baking Show  recipe book at the Clark Shop Rite.

 it was intriguing and I thought why not.Hopefully I'll have the time to bake a few treats fromthis little volume.I do want to try Mary Berry's cheese straws as well as her zesty orange filled Jaffa cakes., a British classic. The breads are a must. I like the idea of a warm homemade bread slathered with butter and jam. It's challenging myself along with discovering tasty recipes I can also make for family and friends.

This is the year to have fun and challenge your cooking and baking skills.it could be adding a new spice or trying a new cuisine.It could even be making up a new recipe. Have fun. Be daring this year.

Dazzle In The New Year

 A New Year means all sorts of new things. It can be extremely fun for home chefs and bakers. There's all sorts of new to try. It's a year to experiment.

If you haven;t already use those Christmas giftcards to buy air fryers, immersion blenders and crockpots These are the three most important appliances outside of your stove and fridge. Another must is experimenting with new spices. Update your spice cabinet. Use flavorings you haven't used before. The same is true for bothi cooking and baking recipes.

It's a new year. Dazzle friends and family. Dazzle youself and your kitchen in 2024!

Have  a tasty, fun New Year!!!😍

Your Party Your Way

Sometimes you just want to be alone despite eit being New Year's Eve. That's OK.  You can have your own party for one. It's a good time to just to treat yourself.

Most go for takeout. Chinese is bif and you cna easily get a small meal. Go for somethign that's idulgent like shrimp in lobster sauce or fried pork or chicken dumplings. These are good also as leftovers on New Year's day.If you're just having one or two friends over. Some pizzerias can make a pie for one.If not treat yourself to some garlic knots and a good scratch made stratichella soup. You could also eat out too. There are restuarants who can squeeze a solo diner . if that's the case, treat yourself to an indulgent meal. Try a French restaurant where you can indulge in a rich bouef bourgignon or even a French onion soup. If you don't want to deal with a crowd , ordrr ahead and just take out. You still get restaurant quality food and enjoy it in the privacy of your home. Of course if you're craving a burger than stop at your local Wendy's or McDonalds. Go all out for a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Order a shake if you want too.

Home cooking can also work for a party of one. Stores such as Aldi,Lidl and Acme have exclllent choices for appetizers and hors douevres. Aldi has an excllet array of frozen snacks like corn dogs and creamy mini quiches. Serve upa plate of their Mac and cheese bites.Try Lidl;s veggie egg rols that can be easily air fried toa crispy, golden brown. They even come with their own little packets of duck sauce. They also have the richly indulgence escargot or snail puffs from France,They also offer vegetables au gratin,. small cups that are filled with carrots, zucchini and eggplants. Treat yourself to their chicken fries or chicken wings that can be air fried or oven baked. Acme along with many other grocery stores offer good cold cuts and cheeses. Arrange a mini charcuterie plate fro yourself with yoru favorite cold cuts like prosciutto cotto or salame along with Brie and Edam. Slice up a small Portuguese roll instead of buying a whole French ro Italian bread .Add olives and artichoke hearts if you like them. Since it's only you also buy a good bottle of champagne to drink as well. Save some for the next day for indulgent mimosas at your New Year's Day breakfast.

There's nothing wrong with celebrating on your own. Indulge yourself. Enjoy a dinner out or a dinner in. I'ts your party.