Easy Dinners

 This is not the time for elaborate mails. we're either too tired from work and end of year reports. There's shopping and exams. The easiest meal to come up is one with the simplest prep.

Tis was my Saturday .I  knew during my  weekly  Lidl trip. I deiced for a meal that is hot and tasty but a snap to put together. I tried Umpossible CHicken nuggets which are so good.

It was twenty nuggets which are air fried for eight minutes at 350 degree Farenheit. It was a perfect cook.

The nuggets needed a side .Lidl has excellent riced cauliflower. I bought their herb and garlic flavor. Another quick meal.

it only cooked in six minutes in the microwave. You could add a bit of butter to it but it's tasty on it's own.

This was the perfect meal. Hot ,tasty and delicious. It was also filling too. You could add a salad if you wanted to make it more satisfying, but together these two are fulfilling enough.

A cooked meal is good right now. Yet it can be a pain to create with everything going on. Create something that can cook in minutes and is satisfying during these crazy times.

Favorite Party Food

 This is the season for all types of parties from Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa. Then there is the big blow out of New Year'seve. What's your favorite party food and why?Is it pigs in a blanket? Mini quiches?Bruschetta  topped with tangy tomatoes? or is it on the sweet side?A small plate of Christmas cookies? Bourbon balls for a dessert afterwards?

Let us know.I'm partial to bruschetta myself simply because I love the crunch of well toasted Italian or French bread .Te tomatoes mixed with olive oil and herbs is also a big plus.

Fun Snacks For Holiday Parties

It's that time of year when home parties are getting planned. It most centers around drinks yet food is vital to these parties as well. They  provide sustenance and fun  as guests enjoy a variety of punches and cocktails.

Regular contributor Melissa Clark wrote about this holiday essential in yesterday's New York Times Food section. She also contributed some tasty recipes that are perfect for any type of part thrughout the year. These can work on Memorial Day as they can work on New Year's Eve. They walk the line between filling snacks and appetizers. They can also be good before a dinner or add some cheese and olives for a fun snack tray. Another plus is that all three recipes,loaded focaccia, Halloumi stuffed sweet peppers and white bean dip with cumin chile oil in advance. The simplest is the bean dip, a blend of  white bean and a good glug of olive oil. She doesn't add the usual tahini,Olive oil makes it silkier and smoother. As for the beans use cannelini which have a lovely mild taste. You can also use white kidney beans too;.Cumin red, pepper and garlic give it a zingy sharp flavor. You can serve with pita but veggies like carrots broccoli and cauliflower also are good.

The other two dishes are perfect too.Guests will  love Halloumi cheese stuffed sweet pepper. This is a perfect marriage of salty and sweet. Halloumi is a saline cheese ,briny and sharp. The peppers are a perfect foil. These can be put into lettuce cups or on crostino (which is easily made with Italian bread drizzled with oil and then put into the oven for a few minutes).The cheese just has to be cut into sm all pieces that fit into the peppers. R=They;re roasted for twenty four minutes. A really filling and tasty  appetizer is the loaded focaccio. You can also use flatbread or pizza crust too for this.Ricotta or butter is generously spread on the tops. You can drizzle them with olive oil and honey if you want a touch of sweetness. It's then having fun with it. Top it with prosciutto, salami or salami. Add arugula or kale along with sliced cherry tomatoes for a festive look. You can also add olive or go another way and top it with blue cheese and walnuts.Capers and sliced persimmons can also add flavor and color too.

Parties deserve festive food. These recipes are perfect. Try them for a tasty table that your guests will enjoy.

The Best Of Best Of

 It may not be the end of the year just yet but there are the best of the best lists being compiled right now. The New York Times Wednesday Food section has already made a tally of the best eateries along with the most popular recipes. These are a wide array of different flavors and cuisines sure to be only anyone's favorite list.

Regular contributors Pete Wells, Melissa Clark and Priya Krishna weigh in the section's most beloved eateries in the city. There is the not yet reviewed Borgo which features savory fried squash rings and a bronze skinned roasted chicken.those who enjoy good Indian food should head over to Vikas Khanna's. Everyone love a good taqueria. Try    Carnitas Ramirez for warm tortillas filled with meat dripping in their own juices and fresh made salsas. Bungalow for shrimp baclao cones and lamb chops crusted with garlic ginger and mango powder. For Southern and French influences try Eulalie's which features homemade coconut cake and sweetbreads. There is also Soho's Hamburger America tat features Oklahoma style onion burgers that are drippy ,greasy and delicious. Astoria, across the East River, long known for Greek food has a new Middle Eastern place called Levant. They bake the laminated flaky on the inside bread, then stuff it with cheese, sausage and spices. The city still has room for good and classic French restaurants like Le Veau d'Or. It's a second coming for this eatery, once  hangout to Orson Welles and Truman Capote. For real hisotry try Shawnae's House on Staten Island where owner  Shaw-nae  Dixon create amazing mouth waterign soul food and Caribbean dishes. She descends from one of Staten Island's oldest African American families with her ancestor John Jackson purchasing land at the famed Sandy Ground in 1827.

Of course home chefs can make food just as good as any of the above eateries thanks to the list of the twenty-five best recipes.Another regular contributor Margaux Laskey compiles some of the best recipes that can be made for the holidays and beyond. One perfect for now is  Ali Slagle's roasted cauliflower and garlic soup.It only has three ingredients, the two mentioned and olive oil. This is an easy cook that also has water to smooth it out.Another soup os Carolyn Gelen 's bright and punchy tomato and lentil soup that has heavy cream and butter as its' base.Lentil's tomatoes and shallots are added for color. Another easy dish that would be perfect for right now is Yasmin Fahr's chicken meatballs with greens. This is a change up from the usual beef and pork variety and they work with the bite size pieces of Swiss chard. Ali Slagle also contributes another dish in her lemon garlic linguine, a light variation of pasta with tomato sauce..This is also a versatile dish that can be stretched with mushrooms or shrimp.Yes , there are sweets from Samantha Seneviratne's microwave chocolate pudding cake to  Yossy Arefne;s chocolate doughnut muffins.     

Eat in or eat out. These are the best of the best to try. Go to a restaurant. Cook or bake at home. All the food here is delicious and worth having.

     

The Best Gift Homemade Food Baskets

 What do you gift foodies and gourmands for the holiday season? Try a homemade food basket. These are not only fun to give but fun to make. Even better is that they can be tailored to the person's likes.

The first thing to do is figure out how many you;re going to make and what each recipient's tastes are.ONce these are established then head to your local dollar or craft sote and pick up wicker baskets. Buy ribbon to wrap around the baskets and if you want buy some fake holly and berries or put a candy cane or two in front for a more restive look. As for wrapping the entire basket, consider buying holiday Saran wrap that comes in red and green tints.(if you can;t find itat your local grocery store, Amazon has the rolls for fifteen dollars). Now it's time to think about what to put in. Pizza lovers would probably like a bag of bread flour, olive oil , pizza sauce and a pizza cutter. You can add a pack of pepperoni along with a tin of olives or even anchovies. Include a shaker jar of red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese if they like their pizzas extra cheesy. pasta lovers would appreciate a similar basket, but with different kinds of pasta to try a long with a couple of jars of different flavored sauces. Include a pasta measurer and pasta tongs (again Amazon and Target sell these). Add a jar of Parmesan too along with bottles of thyme and oregano for flavoring. A garlic press would be a great addition too.

Barbecuers would love a basket filled with different hot sauces . Get then in varying degrees of heat so the griller can experiment. A pack of homemade or purchased dry rubs would be appreciated. A good dry rub recipe has a blend of brown sugar, mustard powder, ground pepper and onion powder. You can put this in  a mason jar and tied a festive bow around it.Add barbecue mitt too which can be bought at either Home Depot or Sur la Table. Ice cream fanatics would love a basket filled of  extras to make the perfect cone or sundae. Include a package of waffle cone bowls and cones along with both hot fudge and salted caramel syrups. Wet walnuts and a container of maraschino cherries complete it along with a variety of colored sprinkled. Add a bottle of hard magic shell sauce for those perfect Dairy Queen dipped cones.You can  also put in a set of sundae spoons and metal straws for those who loved ice cream sodas. Bakers would love a basket full of different flours along with dry yeast, cinnamon and other spices like nutmeg and cardamon,Add festive cookie cutters along with powdered sugar, food coloring gels and different decorations like dragees and sprinkles. Target has cute Christmas tree spatulas that would go well in this kind of basket.

Creating a holiday food basket is fun. It could be for the barbecuer or the baker in your life. It could be a treat for a pasta and pizza lover or an ice cream fan. Whatever you make will be most appreciated by any food lover.

LIdl Spring Rolls Dinner ,Snack Hors Douevres

 Holiday season means two things - quick meals that are satisfying and tasty and party food that's also satisfying and tasty. If you're looking for them, look for something can can be those two along with a hot snack. LIdl has just the answer in their Preferred Selection Spring Rolls. This is a quick air fryer crisp up that's done in minutes.

I couldn't;t resist getting them after a friend raved about their flavor. These are hand made and they have that look that you could have filled and rolled them in your kitchen.

There are twenty-four in  package so it makes for a substantial dinner for two and enough for a small party. 

They're an easy set up/ I used Lidl's olive oil spray to coat them a

nd the inside of the air fryer basket. it was a quick fry up. It just takes four minutes at 400 degrees Farenheit , with a break to flip after two minutes.

The package comes with it's own packet of sweet chili dipping sauce which works well with the filling of jicama, guava and spring onion. The wrappers have the perfect crunch after frying

I love both the spring roll and the sauce. The blend of the potato tasting jicama with the guava and spring onion was perfect. I may make these again on Christmas Eve along with other Lidl appetizers for a fancy but light supper.I also want to make them again on either New Year's Even or New Year's Day. They're the perfect party food  because of their small size and the fact they cook up so quickly. Two to three batches can be made in almost under fifteen minutes.

If you're looking for a good dinner, snack or hors d'ouevre then look no further than Lidl's hand rolled spring rolls. These are done in just minutes, perfect for parties and meals. Try them this holiday season.

It's The Cookie Issue

 Nothing says Chhristmas like homemade cookies. It's the season for dough and decorations. The New York Times knows this and out out a fantastic cookie insert in tomorrow's Sunday papers. There are seven recipes sure to be the crowd pleasure of any dessert table or cookie swap

This issue is a keeper .The front cover features  Melissa' Clark's peppermint shortcakes with an icing that's a riff on the classic New York black and white cookie. This one is definitely on my will bake list It's basic shortbread recipe with peppermint extract added. The icing is also peppermint. I can;t help thinking that these would be good with a dark chocolate ganache icing so it gives a Junior MInt or York Peppermint Patty vibe.Another must bake isthe ginger cheesecake cookie, Imagine a gingersnap filled with cheesecake. This is Samantha'Senerevrtine's recipe that has  home bakers  freezing the filling and then wrapping the dough around a hard ball of it,For a spicy and bright flavor bake  Eric' Kim's  lemon- turmeric crinkle cookie. It a different take on a the classic holiday crinkle cookie.

 

A fun snap to make is the rum buttered almond. cookies by new comer Vaugh Vreeland.Imagine Italian pignoli cookies with almonds instead of pine nuts and a shot of rum added to the dough.Melted rum butter is then brushed on the cookies before they're popped into the  oven. Buche de Noel is a holiday classic and famed baker Claire Saffrritz give us it s in the form of cookies.These are rolled chocolate cookies with a cocoa butter cream frosting and a coating not unlike  rough bark. This is made with cocoa nibs Demamara sugar and salt. Another take on shortbread is  Su Li's matcha and  black sesame shortbread with the finished product having  a lovely green tint/ Sohla El-Wally whips up everyone;s favorite Rocky Road using cookie butter, chocolate chips and a host of candies  like spice drops and nuts such as pecans., This is a no bake one and only has to set in the fridge for one hour.

Whatever you make from  this issue will surely be the hit of any holiday dessert table or cookie swap. They are fun to make and fun to eat. Try a recipe or two for delightful and flavorful bites.