Fresh Apples FreshTaste

we are in the middle of apple season.Our stores have them piled hog.These are good but what's eve better are the fresh from the tree ones.They have a certain , maybe even better flavor that adds to everything from apple sauce to salads. David Tanis wrote about them in his A City Kitchen column in today's New York Times Dining section.He has found out that most apples we buy now come from eastern Washington State and as far away as Peru and New Zealand.There are some stores such as Stop And Shop and Shop Rite here in the city area that sell locAlly grown apples but these are few and far between.Farms around the NY metro are no longer ,with valuable land being used for malls and McMansions.Luckily there is still. Warwick New York and Monmouth County NJ that have orchards that are just bursting with apples.Go there or to farmers markets for the just picked flavor. Mr.Tanis has given us one traditional and one exotic recipe for the fresh picked gems.One is apple sauce.This can be made with Cortland or Macoun apples and cooked over a stove as opposed to a pressure cooker.This creates a creamy mash perfect as a side for any German pork roast or pork chop. He also makes an Indian pickle using the apples along with cayenne , turmeric and the traditional Indian hinge.It is then sprinkled with toasted mustard seeds with more bite.Have this with a barbecued leg of lamb or even tandoori chickenThe apples used were the crunchy Braeburn and Mutsu ,although you could use Granny Smith. This is the season for pples.Avoid the stores, and head to the orchards.You'll have apples with better flavor.Not only that you'll have better apple sauce, pies and even candy apples.

Rustic Fall Pizzas

One of the best seasons in Italy is the fall. This is the harvest times in both the north and south and with it, the last of the tomato crops. Home cooks decide to use these into hearty , rustic pizzas that are not only a treat but a satisfying , healthy meal. Home made style pizza is the best .It's so flavorful and truly nutritious.

Making a pie at home is a relatively easy dish to create. Nothing beats a homemade crust. You can make it with regular flour or for a healthier bite, brown or unbleached flour. If you use the last just remember that it the crust may not be as crisp as one made with white flour. All  doughs require yeast olive oil, water and a bit of sugar. You can use a bread paddle or your hands to knead the dough . If there are little ones and they want to help, let them knead as well.This is a great learning moment for them and they can also put their two cents  in how they want their favorite dish made. You can also make  square pizzas with thick crusts or the more fun  almost cuplike individual ones.

Rustic pizzas are not fancy ones with exotic toppings. One of the best is the old fashioned type with just a topping of cooked plum tomatoes. These are usually crushed  with basil for more flavor. The sauce can be either  canned or fresh  and layered thickly on top. If you want to add cheese add circles of  mozzarella slices scattered on top as opposed to mozzarella shreds being strewn all over. If you want any toppings, again think simple.Roasted garlic  onions or olives are all good and are chock full of phytochemicals and antioxidants.You can also create a covered pizza by sealing in the topping with a top layer.It's the truest form to a pizza rustica.

This is the time of year when a rustic pizza suits the bills.It's hearty lunch or dinner, perfect after a day of football or apple picking.  It's a great way of enjoying the last of the tomato harvest while getting a healthy dose of  nutrients Make one for your family to enjoy during these brisk days.

Aunt Nellie's Beets The Best Beets

Even though it's fall there's still nothing like a beet salad, It;s the perfect accompaniment for tail gate ribs or burgers still cooked out on the grill.It's also a good side to Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams. Luckily there is a company like Aunt Nellie's that fits the bill.

Aunt Nellies,a division of Seneca Foodsof California and New York State and a cousin of Libby's canned fruit and vegetables has excellent jar or what's known as glass beets. These are perfect for beet fans who love the root veggie but hate to go through the canning and preserving process. They are not your typical canned beets, mushy and pudding soft. These have the firm, plump texture and shape of just picked ones. The flavor is phenomenal, sweet with an earthy ripe flavor.I made a tasty salad with them , with the addition of onions and olive oil.Aunt Nellie's adds the right amount of pickling so vinegar or lemon isn't needed.

Aunt Nellie's also makes some other great pickled veggies too. I would love to try my fave - three bean salad, which again is a wonderful holiday meal side, especially with ham. They also have Harvard beets, beets with a creamy sauce. another great addition to any lunch or dinner. Aunt Nellie's' also has red cabbage a must for October fest meals,What is great about the company and their philosophy is that it's harvest to table,All theveggies and beans picked at the peak of freshness and pickled almost immediately to give us that straight from the garden taste.That's what I also love about them too. My salad brought back flavors that normally would be tasted in July or August instead of now in mid October.They can be bought direct from their website as well as on Amazon.com

If you want the just picked taste of fresh beets, then buy Aunt Nellie's; brand.There's nothing like a fresh, summery tasting salad in fall. Buy a few jars today for your tailgating parties or fall dinners.

The Best Chocolate Cookbook Ever!

Chocolate lovers rejoice ! There is an excellent cookbook, Crazy About Chocolate that has every kind of chocolate recipe in it!What's even more interesting is that several are savory ones, using cacao in a different and unique way. A chocoholic could make an entire dinner using their favorite food thanks to this unusual cookbook.

Krystina Castella wrote this truly original book published by Sterling Publishers. She includes many interesting facts,, from why she loves the brown stuff to cooking with it. I like how she explains the different equipment used  in her recipes. This is handy because one item, such as a cookie sheet, sauce, could have several different uses. What I love about this book is it's versatility and flexibility with chocolate. She uses it in its' original form , mole to create an unusual turkey mole chile as well as chocolate bun sliders with a cocoa sauce. What is truly unique is her chocolate butter with grilled corn as well as her smoked ribs with her cocoa barbecue sauce. These would be hits at any tailgate party. There's also a cool chocolate pasta one that I would  use as a surprise jaw dropper of a dessert.

Of course, since it is a chocolate cookbook, sweet recipes abound. There is a yummy sounding German chocolate French toast as well as chocolate bagels. Her take on cakes are just drool worthy. There is one for a simple orange marble pound cake as well as one for devil's food and Bundt cake. She also categorizes the recipes into holidays, from  steamed Japanese rice cakes with chocolate filling for New Years to chocolate gingerbread men and squares for Christmas. She even has cocoa waffles for  the Fourth of July. There are also recipes to suit r all sorts of gatherings from fancy birthday parties to baby showers. Ms. Castella also has every day ones like the scrumptuous chocolate  and fruit ices , and fun chocolate cookies for after school snacking.

Please get this cookbook if you're a chocolate lover or just want to create tasty and unusual dishes. You can make all sorts of truly delicious sweets and savories using one of the world's most ancient and most popular ingredients. It's a trip into the sweet world of cacao.

Sweet Blasts Fron The Past

New York is full of fancy confectioners shops with imported French and Italian sweets. However the city and its' boroughs also have a few old fashioned candy stores (and one with a British twist) that cater to nostalgia. Whether you're visiting  or living in area go see  these neat throwbacks to a more innocent and sweeter time.

Sheila McClear covered this in Wednesday's The New York  Daily News Food section (and again The NY Daily News has some excellent articles on cooking and restaurants). All the boroughs have one gem that sells childhood classics, however it's Brooklyn that has the most. This borough may appeal to hipsters but it also appeals to the old guard. There is the Williams Candy Shop on Surf Street that has marshmallow kabobs, three huge mallows on a stick covered in caramel and coated in coconut.Staten Island, for all its' Jersey like suburbia has Philip's Candy .There's homemade peanut brittle and homemade fudge along with marzipan.

Manhattan has some of the best, both British and American. Trendy Bleeker Street gives us The London Candy Company  which features English faves such as the heady but addictive Wine Gums, along with anything and everything Cadbury. There's also midtown's Myzel's, where Polish immigrant Paulina Myzel sells all different kinds of licorice (which turns out to be a great balm for sore throats) and homemade cookies she bakes herself. Along with these there are the fun Halloween candies such as gummy brains and gummy teeth. Economy Candy has some cool retro treats such as Bonamo Turkish Taffy , AstroBars and the ever popular Pez dispensers.

If you're in the city or its' boroughs this Halloween season, treat yourself to some neat sweets. These are a fun  and not so fancy throwback to our childhoods. Buy a few bags of your faves and get the best sugar high ever!

Weeding Out Your Food

The next time you spruce up your lawn pay close attention to your weeds. Yes, they can be pesky little suckers, ruining a fall landscape, yet they can add to any salad or even cooked dish.It's a delicious walk on the wild side.

It was further explored in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.newcomer Ben Paynter described what wild plants can be used and how restaurants are employing them in different dishes, Foraging is nothing new. Humanity has been doing it since our earliest days, Mostly then it was a tremendous hit or miss deal. Pick a weed  then and hopefully it was not only tasty but non toxic.;Nowwe and farmers are better read and equipped to pick out weeds that will go well in various dishes. Many farms now are just growing weeds  to supply the wave of wild plant chefs.

Many chefs are embracing this natural plant cuisine. Mr.Paynter focused on the ones in Kansas City however trendy New York restaurants  such as Daniel, Gramercy Tavern and Acme are also embracing the foraging craze.Weeds can provide an entirely new facet to cooking and cooks can create some new spins on old classics. Chicory is one of the most popular,It can be used in salads to give them a kind of  earthy coffee flavor. The ever common dandelion is turned into an amuse bouche in Kansas City. Sous chef, Josh Eans turns the petals into a tasty morsel while the stems and the rest of the flowers were battered dipped and fried into a tasty tempura.

Foraging is not only a great way of getting rid of those pesky weeds. It;s also an interesting way to change up your menu. Hit the garden and woods this weekend and start looking for your next culinary creation.

NOTE: If you are thinking about foraging , read up on it first whether on the Internet or on a books solely on the subject. ,Be aware of which  plants are poisonous  and which ones are safe.

A Better Butter

Can butter be made any better? The answer is yes, especially if you make it yourself. That may sound crazy and definitely labor intensive  but it is worth it.Homemade and fermented butter can create better dishes and baked goods. It also enhances ordinary breads and rolls with its' creamy , tangy flavor.

Melissa Clark experimented with it and write about it extensively in her A Good Appetite column  in today's New York Times Dining section. There is a whole movement out there who is using fermented butter, butter that has a  higher fat content , 86 to 84 content to the standard 80 per cent. It is different that our regular sticks, pats ad tubs.It's denser in texture and a deeper shade of yellow. Many have taken making this rare treat in their kitchen, as Ms, Clark has done. It is labor intensive yet only requires three simple ingredients: yogurt, high quality cream and sea salt.It requires kneading  along with intense three day fermenting. It is then washed and ready to serve.

The results are amazing. Not only do you get fresh , old fashioned butter but rich buttermilk to boot as Ms. Clark found out. Both enhance any dish (as well as a having a fresh cold glass of  buttermilk.) The acid in the butter makes it perfect for baking as she discovered  in creating simple butter cookies.These were crumblier , crisper and more buttery. The biscuits she baked  turned out to be softer and more tender due to the butter's acidity to tenderize the ingredients. Hopefully Ms. Clark used the  butter also on sautes and in making mashed potatoes and creamed veggies. These would taste phenomenal with the hommade stuff.

If you have the time and crave a better butter then think about making your own. It will not only enhance your baked dishes but also redefine the way you use it on bread and rolls. Homemade butter is nothing but a plus to your kitchen. It is hard work but definitely worth it.