Belgian Cuisine A True Variety

Belgian cuisine is often overlooked.It's not as suave and sophisticated as French or as internationally known as Italian or German.However it has provided the world with two favorite dishes as well as a cornucopia of land and sea dishes.It employs almost every ingredient from both bounties. What's the favorite standby that Beligans have given the world?There's actually two ,the French fry and the waffle.Fries have been made since the potato's introduction to Europe.They were first written about in 1680 and they originated around the area of the Meuse River in the central part of the country ( at this point Belgium didn't exist.It was a manufactured country thanks to the Napoleonic Wars).They are served in a cone ,with a side of mayo, or curry ketchup, or both.They're sometimes served with a frikandel ,a minced meat hot dog and recent addition to Belgian street fare.Waffles ,another world beloved treat,that comes from the Dutch or Fleming side of the country.Americans were first introduced to them at the Seattle World's Fair of 1962 and the New York World's Fair of 1964.They are a waffle served with whipped cream and strawberries but can also be served with ice cream and a bitter chocolate sauce.They're usually eaten as a dessert or snack.They are different from the American kind because they are made with egg whites or yeast to give them a lighter, crispier texture as well as a lighter taste. The Belgians love mussels or moules, as they're called figure prominently in their cuisine.They are usually steamed with onions and celery along with white wine and served with frites or fries.They are a wonderful fragrant dish ,briny with the taste of fresh caught mussels.Waterzooie is another hearty dish.This is a stew made with chicken or fish, eggs, cream and vegetables.It's associated with the historic city of Ghent.Another popular dish is carbonade flamande,a Belgian beef stew similar to the French Bouef Bourguinon, but made with a dark ,earthy beer instead of red wine.Served with bread or fries along with mustard.The French influence is also felt in boudin,a sausage made with a fine blend of meat, blood and breadcrumbs.It's usually eaten with potatoes and various vegetables. Dessert could be anything from rice pudding to lush Belgian chocolates to crisp cinnamon laced shortbread cookies and sugar drenched doughnuts. Belgian cuisine is varied and flavorful. It has the best of the sea and the land. It also has given the worlds it's favorite treats, waffles and fries.

Gourmet Goodies For Mother's Day

Tomorrow is the day when all mothers across the US should expect to be served with a special meal.It could be breakfast, brunch , lunch or dinner.Most kids (and hubbies) wind up making the same old stuff.Don't !!!A unique lady deserves something unique.It's time to put a dash of gourmet in those Mother's Day meals. Most moms wake up to a breakfast of pancakes ,a few pieces of bacon and a somewhat scrambled egg.Instead of the ordinary make it special.Start the morning off with crepes or blintzes stuffed with fresh cut fruit and if you can clotted cream( you can also try fresh whipped cream which is a snap to make ).Eggs deserve a decadent turn with Eggs Benedict.You can make it even easier by buying a packet of Hollandaise sauce mix.For variety, sub in spinach or crab meat for the Canadian bacon.If you're going more for a brunch vibe, start off with a mimosa.This is simple blend of champagne and orange juice. Then think a delicate omelet with minced ham or crumbled bacon added.As a dessert try a waffle cake made with two or three waffles,layered together with a tart apricot or nectarine conserve .Add a puff of whip cream and some fresh flowers on top.Another treat is an assortment of bagels or croissants with different spreads from a savory herbed butter to a berry infused cream cheese . Both lunch and dinner can be just as fancy and even exotic.Since the weather is gorgeous and balmy, think barbecue.However don't make it a dad- centric one with steaks and burgers.(unless mom is a true carnivore). Think chicken or shrimp on skewers intermingled with pepper and onion chunks along with grape or cherry tomatoes.Serve with a spiced rice or couscous..Seared chicken breast or tuna are other choices.Make a coconut marinade for the poultry and for the fish , a mix of fresh orange juice soy sauce and garlic.Another idea is a salad of grilled vegetables. Start with a base of spinach or Spring greens, then add grilled asparagus, eggplant, onions , corn niblets and tomatoes.Add a light vinaigrette as a dressing. Of course nothing beats a cheese platter with a variety of savory cheeses and crackers. Mix Brie with blue ,along with slices of cheddar and pepper Jack. Have extras like grape tomatoes and gherkins too to nibble on.Pasta is an another easy meal to fix.Try a light sauce,with chicken and lemon or a medley of veggies and garlic infused olive oil instead of the usual heavy tomato sauces. Mother's Day should be full of special treats .Make mom a gourmet meal she 'll be proud of and enjoy .Wow her with the best foods and dishes available.

salt And Pepper And Sweet

Salt and pepper has always been used to bring out the flavor in savory foods.Now there's a new spin on these traditional seasonings.More and more sweets, from frostings to candies, are using them to add zing and zest .It's a neat twist on this age old duo. Black pepper is showing up in some of the most common recipes.Melissa Clark,the New York Times food writer, refashioned traditional buttercream filling with fresh ground pepper.her recipe in Wednesday's A Good Appetite column shakes up the flavor and give a usually cloying recipe some bite.(although the cake recipe too is different thanks to adding hot water to the cocoa to give it a smooth flavor).You can also use black and white ground peppercorns in frosting too for a surprise taste.They're usually added in what's called a boiled icing,which is more of a glossy true icing ,similar to what you see on Hostess cupcakes.There 's also a pound cake made with coarsely ground black pepper,although you could add white as well.Candy gets the spice too.Even Jelly Belly has a black pepper flavor and there are even black pepper lollipops. Salt is somehow the more acceptable since all cake recipes and some cookie ones always call for a pinch of it.It accentuates the other flavors, however it hasn't been the star ingredient.All that is changing.Sea salt is a chief ingredient in all things caramel, expertly bringing out the candy's sweet buttery flavor.Like pepper it's making it's way into frostings as well.A sea salt caramel one would go well over a plain vanilla or chocolate cake, or as a cupcake topper.If you plan on the last think about adding a tiny sprinkle of lavender infused fleur de sel for more sophistication.There was always salt water taffy however there's actually very little salt in it. Instead you can make variations of peanut brittle and toffee with liberal sprinklings of any sea salt.Homemade caramels can also get the added fun of any one as well?Just remember that different salts have slightly different flavors. try the English Malden brand for a lighter, taste.For an earthier richer salt, go for the black Hawaiian one. Salt and pepper are not just for the main meal anymore.They're becoming vital ingredients in desserts and candies.Sprinkle them into your traditional recipes for a different spin.

Spins On Squid

Squid or calamari is one of those foods that people either love or hate.The way it's cooked is probably the cause of this polarization.Yet if done right the meat can be rich in a briny sense and also tender.Most calamari recipes recipes call for overcooking.It's time to change that way of thinking and cooking. David Tanis explored this in his A City Kitchen column in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.He gives hints as well as recipes for this sustainable seafood.The best squid to buy are ones that have pinkish purple skin that's agleam to it.Also the eyes should be bright.You can buy it already cleaned and ready to cook. This means the fish has been gutted ,scraped and rinsed and divided into bodies or tubes and tentacles.What is great about it is that it can hold up to any seasoning or spicing.It can be good mildly seasoned or doused with a myriad of flavorings.Mr Tanis gives the recipe for a Chinese style crisp fried squid with five spices.This is a more sophisticated version of calamari with a batter liberally laced with the five spice mix.You can make this at home using,fennel seeds, star anise, cinnamon and Szechuan pepper.After fringe in just vegetable oil for two minutes, sprinkle cilantro and diced Serrano chiles over them.Serve with lime . Mr Tanis also recommend roasting them.Squid retains it's tenderness when cooked quickly and this another good way to do it.His recipe is Spanish style ,fired with chorizo and pimenton.Roast ,not on a grill, but in hot oven.It and the fragrant gravy that the combination makes is good spooned over baby spinach and Yukon Gold potatoes.Another way of cooking the seafood is braising.However it has to be cooked for an entire hourvto return to that soft ,slightly chewy tenderness.This would be a better winter dish with tomatoes and leeks.However you could try a spin on bouillabaisse by adding the braised squid.The best bet for the warm weather is a quick method.Another idea, not mentioned is out door grilling and then serving the squid with a lemon butter sauce. squid done well is heaven.The key is a short cooking time for a tender, tasty fish.Your opinion of it being gummy, tough calamari will change upon trying it these three ways.

Green Eating Parisian Style

France has long held the tradition of being the arbiter of fine dining and new trends.Could it be that it could also be going semi vegan too? A Parisian standby ,L'Arpege is eschewing animal based dishes and going green.More and more vegetables are showing up , prepared in interesting new methods. New York Times food critic, the great Pete Wells, explored the restaurant and wrote about it in his Critic On The Road column in today's Wednesday 's Dining section.L'Arpege's chef,Alain Passard has created a unique , but probably soon to be copied, green tasting menu.Since this is France, there was nothing Spartan about the way the veggies were served.Turnips came out, quartered and buttered, accompanied by rhubarb. Vol au vents , usually filled with mashed chicken or pastry creme, now hold vivid carrots and peas surrounded by a milky white onion sauce.The taste is fresh and a jolt ,it seems, to the taste buds. There was a green garlic soup decorated with ham infused clouds of whipped cream.Ravioli is served too, but not the dense meaty kind in opaque pasta sacs.Instead translucent wrappers held a medley of Chef Passard's own grown veggies in a clear vegetable consomme.Mesclun and radishes were drizzled with a hazelnut infused vinaigrette for a nuttier, earthier taste. Is cooking green the start of a trend?It could be that Chef Passard is perhaps becoming bored with cooking his signature quartered meat and fish dishes.L'Arpege had been known for serving both lamb and lobster expertly cut into manageable pieces.These are successful.It could be that he is embracing another aspect of nouvelle cuisine.Another chef, Dan Barber, who has researched the other chef's career for his book about Passard"entitled "The Third Plate"suggests this.He's bucking from the unexpected ,giving him an enviable freedom that fellow cook masters would love to have.Another theory is that he is trying to bring people's attention s to a greener way of eating.Melissa Clark has a tasty bowl dish in her section today as well .It is filled with nothing but quinoa and spring vegetables,sic as artichokes,onions and peas.It makes for healthier eating and a weaning away of meat centered dishes.It could also be that vegetable dishes have been ignored for so long with no interesting and palate blowing recipes. Even the best restaurants, here and abroad ,have simply turned them into uninspired sides. Chef Alain Passard is creating a new trend with turning ordinary vegetables Bles in works of culinary art.Let's hope it inspires other chefs pick up on it.Green eating is healthy eating .Serving it in fancy and innovAtive ways will bring more diners and home chefs into healthier living.

A Good Old Southern Picnic

Now that the weather is warmer, it's time to think about picnics. One of the best cuisines suited to this is Southern style cooking.There is so much that would go well in a picnic basket.The foods and drinks are rich in flavor and texture and are perfect for enjoying under a shady tree. expect to nap in the soft grass afterwards. Fried chicken is a Southern staple as well as a picnic one.You can make the coating with any kind of crumb or batter. An old fashioned buttermilk batter is always the best.Some cooks add paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper for bite.Panko crumbs, usually used in tempura, can also be used for a lighter, crunchier crust.Fresh roasted ham is another good meat to bring to a Southern style outing can be sliced into thick rounds and sandwiched between homemade biscuits.You could also make a ham salad by cubing it and adding mayo along with celery to it.Macaroni and potato salads make good sides.Forget the low calorie dressings.This is the South where calorie rich foods abound.You can make simple mayo dressing with the addition of oil and vinegar.Cole slaw can be made this way as well.If you're a tad more ambitious ,then try making bread and butter pickles as an extra treat.Another idea is deep fried pickles.Use the left over chicken batter for these as well as the oil or fat. What caps off a good Southern picnic?A good Southern dessert.Pecan pie is always good and it's easy to make.For an even easier sweet ending ,try an icebox cake.You can use Nabisco's Nilla wafers and vanilla pudding or mix it up with chocolate wafers and chocolate pudding. Another yummy treat is a strawberry or peach shortcAke.Use those buttermilk biscuits,split them in half and ladle on sliced fresh fruit.Finish with either Cool Whip or fresh whipped cream (which you can bring along in a cooler)Banana pudding is another nice bring along dessert and a cinch to make.What to drink on this jaunt? Sweet Southern tea.This is not the instant kind but one using actual tea bags.The best ones would be Orange Pekoe or Earl Grey.These are full bodied brews that would lose their taste when ice is added.For a true Dixie touch serve in mason jars. A true Southern picnic is.perfect for this time of year.Settle under your favorite tree with a plate of fried chicken and potato salad.Finish with a sweet treat and sweet tea.Lie back under the warm May sun and savor true Mason Dixon picnic flavors.