Easy Light Meals

 A good home cooked dinner that not only that promote good health but light on calories is a hard find. Many home chefs shy away from recipes that are good for you, simply because they're not packed with flavor. A new cookbook is changing that,  Woman's Day Easy Everyday Lighter Dinners  provides home chefs with recipes not only for dinners and sides but also desserts/ You don.t have to sacrifice taste for eating/ There's a wide variety of different dishes that will appeal to everyone.

The beloved magazine, Woman's Day has created a delightful and all encompassing cookbook with Hearst Publishers. that features all lighter fare.Kate Merker, the magazine's food editor as well as the chief editor, Susan Spencer have3 created the perfect cookbook for those watching their weight as well as their cholesterol and salt intake.What t is great about all the recipes is that they not only work for a weekday dinner but also for a holiday meal.Another plus is that they are easy to read  and easy to make a novice home chef could make the vegetable lasagna for Christmas or New Year's and with good results too. For those wondering if these good for you dishes lack flavor, don't fret. Try the seafood , chorizo  and vegetable stew, redolent with fennel, and tomatoes ,scented with garlic.Even kids will fall for these tasty dishes such as the tortilla crusted fish sticks with a side of crunchy slaw or the. asparagus and potato pizza.

The side recipes are also good and would be great on any holiday table whether it be summer or winter. There is the chic and elegant green beans almondine, ramped up a notch with garlic There's a yummy looking corn on the cob with chili sat all the recipes come with a picture}this is a snap to make, boil the corn make the seasoning and serve.One of my future favorites will be the smashed root vegetables,a blend of parsnips, potatoes rutabegas and carrots made creamy not with milk but with olive oil,Easy Everyday Lighter Dinners has an excellent  dessert section.I love that there are even holiday cookies like the stained glass ones, made with crushed hard candiesThere's  also the mini version of the classic blck and white. Yes there are fruit recipes, the cooking honeydew and mint ices as well as the melon pops.The editors s also include a classic poached pear in red wine , a perfect ending to a dinner with friends.

Creating healthy and delicious meals really is simple , especially if you use Woman's Day Easy Everyday Lighter Dinners. Home chefs have a cornucopia of recipes from soups to desserts  that are not only tasty but also heart healthy. It makes for good eating all around, even including dessert.

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A Wild Spin On Schnitzel

Schnitzel has always been associated with veal.Considering the heaviness of the dish,this light,delicately flavored meat works well with it.After all a stronger tasting meat might clash with the breadcrumbs and the residual taste of the oil.Yet that's being challenged.Many foodie's are trying a pork version that stands up well to the other flavors in the recipe.It makes for a heartier meal, perfect for a fall night. Melissa Clark featured pork schnitzel in her A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.Pork is in some ways a better medium to cook than veal.Veal is light. ,and easy to digest.It's a lean meat where as the other is fatty.However pork is also richer tasting and also forgiving. Home chefs can screw up with it and it's not so bad.It i easier to work with and a better meat to cook on those busy week days.Ms , Clark recommends using a boneless loin cutlet, preferably one with a ring of fat around it.Like the veal version it should be pounded with the smooth side of meat mallet.( although you can use a drinking glass and wax paper in a pinch)She dredges the pieces in panko breadcrumbs but you can use regular plain or unflavored ones.Fry up in safflower peanut or vegetable oil until golden and crisp. Ms Clark and I differ in what the sides would be with a pork schnitzel.She recommends homemade pickles ,I would go for the more traditional spaetzles with mushroom gravy.She gives the recipe ,a simple, one for the pickles , wanting something tart and crispy to complement the rich pork taste of the schnitzel.If you don't feel like making these, you can just spritz the cutlets with fresh lime juice.Most use lemon to cut the oily taste and the aftertaste too, however, the other adds a more refreshing zing.I would have a side of plain spaetzles , possibly with a homemade mushroom gravy or spaetzles with red cabbage if I want zest.Ms Clark also recommends serving the meat with a serving of lingenberry jam.This last is also a tart palate cleanser that would go well with the cutlets.Again this is a good idea but I would serve an unsweetened apple sauce to balance the meat's strong earthy taste.She also tosses chopped scallions on the schnitzel too, which would works and is a nice finish. Pork schnitzel is a nice spin on the traditional Austrian one.It is heartier, perfect for the cool fall nights.Have it with pickles or red cabbage and spaetzles for zest.The dish is an easy one and a tasty alternative to the veal version.

Raising Wings To New Heights

Chicken wings were never meant to be gourmet.Their place was usually at sports bars,served with beer and possibly shrooms.Yet some New York chefs are taking them to new heights.These wings are flying high and flying with interesting spins and inspired flavors. Jeff Gordonier wrote about the new breed of chicken in today's New York Times Dining section.Many chefs realize that chicken wings, especially now during football season, are a lucrative dish.Many are reluctant to put them on their menus because they feel it might cheapen the restaurant's reputation.Yet they are popular, no matter how they are served.People love chicken wings they're fun to dip into sauces, they're fun to eat and eve the sticky mess afterwards is entertaining.Many cooks are giving them an international spin too.Chicken wings are delicious on their own but coat, rub, or slather them with spices and juices and they become heavenly..One eatery,Dinosaur Bar-B-Cue has theirs with hoisin sesame and garlic chipotle along with one called the devil's duel - this one so spicy that the eater's lips and gums go numb because it's so fiery.Some kitchens have embraced the Korean cooking style of double frying.It does make the wings extra crispy but thanks to extra marinating , the meat inside is tender and juicy.Home chefs can try this method but also can grill them too.Just marinate them to get them tender and flavored. Wing lovers who want to try combinations should look to these chefs.Mr. Gordonier has included two recipes from Chefs King Phounannong and Hoon Kim.The first has the flavorful Spanish spice combo ,adobo.It also has crushed peppercorns for heat and soy sauce for added flavor.This along with garlic and coconut milk are turned into a marinade where the wings will sit for thirty minutes before cooking..They're then fried in vegetable oil..Hanjan chicken wings are a true Chinese recipe, with a marinade of soy sauce sake and miring along with garlic.These are a bit healthier because they're grilled.there are other combos listed that home chefs can try on their own.Ducks Eatery, another hot Brooklyn hipster hangout offers Vietnamese style with a caramel type coating but made savory with peppers.Wings can go Mexican as they did in Chef Danny Bowen's Mexican Cantina.This is a mole version, dusted with coffee and cocoa.They're then spattered with creme, cotija and anson mills benne seeds.Home chefs can try this with a tad of dried ancho peppers. Wings are enjoyable no matter how you make them.Try them fried or grilled. Spiced or sauces.Experiment with them to create the perfect munch.They're meant to be elevated to gourmet heights. raise those wings high.

La Yogurt A Treat With Benefits

Many yogurts promise both flavor and benefits.However most fail at that wheather being loaded with too much sugar or not having as many beneficial microbes for intestinal health.One New York City brand La Yogurt delivers both.It. Can be perfect as a dessert or a boon to intestinal health. la Yogurt is a division of Johanna Foods, a New Jersey based company.It may be located in the heart of Jersey farm country,in Flemington but it has a decidedly urban vibe.It is one of the few Us based companies that caters to the growing Latino population.The company is known for the or Sssips,different citrus juices.They excel in trical flavors like pineapple , lime and guava mango.However it's the yogurts that excel, surpassing some of the more mainstream brands in flavor and creaminess.there are different types from creamy to enriched.their flavors go beyond the traditional.Yes, they have vanilla, blueberry and peach but they have also expanded, like their juices in tropical flavors and those familiar in Hispanic households.There is horchata ,a rice and cinnamon mix (think rice pudding with almonds) along with guava and pin a colada. La Yogurt has what I call a dessert yogurt.This is an ultra creamy one generously flecked with dark chocolate chips.Yes, it is good for me, but it is just so darned good.It comes in perfectly paired with chocolate flavors, such as banana coffee and strawberry.The flavors mrsh

A Culinary Marriage Of Old And New

Yesterday was Columbus Day.It was when Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World.Yes, it was the beginning of the end for the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere however it was also the beginning of the Columbian Exchange.Foods were introduced to the denizens of both Europe and the Americas.If any thing this was the greatest benefit of the Age of Explorations.Diets were broadened which meant better nutrition and longer lives. Europeans should thank the New World for bringing them the tomato.It is used in so many dishes, especially in French and Italian.Without it there would be no tomatoes Provencale, tomatoes covered in crunchy bread crumbs and sauteed in a garlicky olive oil.Most Italian cuisine would not be as tasty without those silky sauces that grace every pasta dish from lasagna to spaghetti.Most Italian dishes wouldn't even be, if not for the Columbian Exchange.There would be no golden polenta or heavenly gnocchi because their main ingredients are corn and potatoes, two staples from Latin and North America( although there was always polenta however it was originally made with wheat,and was more broth like).Zucchini, another stole was also brought to Europe where they created all sorts of different dishes.Another protein came into the European diet and that was the many beans, from Lima to pinto to kidney.Healthy fruits such as blueberry and blackberry also became part of desserts.Thanksgiving staples such as turkey and cranberries are also from the New World and have been a staple of British holiday meals for two years now.Also one byproduct of the coca plant , chocolate enhanced European candy making and baking almost one hundred per cent. Without it, both Belgium and Switzerland would not have the lucrative confectionary businesses that have been supporting them for over a century now. Despite all the bad stuff that the Europeans brought to these shores, there are some plants as well as animals that were welcomed in the indigenous diet.Settlers brought chickens,geese, cows,pigs, and goats with them.Diets changed as children were introduced to dairy as well as domestic meats.This meant that tribes didn't have to hunt and could keep animals penned up and used when needed.Seeds were transported through the various groups and now every kind of fruit and vegetables,from apples to yams were brought over and introduced to the natives.Wheat also was introduced, and this meant that bread was made a staple in many countries ( although there was corn pone already baked for centuries in some tribal regions).Whether ,for good or bad, that depends on historians and nutritionists, sugar came to the New World.Colonists brought sugar beets,sugar cane and honey bees.The end product could be used in enhancing baked goods and used to placate children.What didn't change for the newcomers or the natives was the communal gathering of preparing and sharing food.As the cultures came together so did their dishes as seen in Mexican ,Southwestern and some French Canadian dishes. Christopher Columbus could be seen as both a hero and a villain.The one good and lasting aspect of his arrival is the culinary marriage of both the Old and New World. This changed the way the world ate and it is still chaining it fur hundred and twenty years after that.

Crackem An Egg Citing New Invention

 

 

 

Home chefs always dread prepping eggs. There's so much mess and gooey whites to contend with, not to mention that there may be shells lurking in the omelet or cake. That's all about to change thanks to a new invention [see above and this is a first for Foodie Pantry too) called the Crack'em. Dave Tennant , who is more accustomed to computers than the kitchen invented this neat little helper. It a small dish with a raised ridge. Crack the egg over the ridge and it collects whatever drips out . It also collects those pesty shell fragments , leaving any dish shell free. I recently interviewed Dave for  Foodie Pantry.

FP- what is your background?Is Crack' em your first invention?

Dave Tennant: I currently work for the Treasury Department in their IT operations department but worked with two consulting firms before that.I also served in the Marine Corps from 2003 to 2011.I have had many ideas of different ways to do things, but , yes this is my first invention.

FP: What made you want to create it? What was the inspiration behind it?

DT: I was cooking for my pregnant wife back in May of 2013 and broke an egg on the side of the pan.Half of it fell into the pan while the other half landed on the stove.It was a huge mess!When I was cleaning the egg off the side of the pan I noticed its' finish was wearing off from previous egg drippings and messes. I then decided to create something that would make cracking eggs easier, contain a mess and also provide dual functionality as a spoon rest.

FP:Have you noticed that egg prepping has gotten cleaner and less messier with it?

DT:Yes, I have.I haven't cleaned an egg mess since I made the Crack' em. The only messes I encountered were during research and development, but since I had the prototype made,it's been a wonderful mess free experience!

FP;Where can Foodie Pantry readers buy Crack'em? How much does it cost?

DT: Right now I'm running a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to help me pay for manufacturing.Right now they can go to www.crackemeggs.com and click on the "Click Here To Pledge" button to buy it now.After the Kickstarter campaign they will be able to buy them from the crackemeggs.com website.

FP:The Crack'em is a great help in the kitchen!Do you have any other kitchen gadgets on the drawing board?

DT:I don't have anything on board right now because I'm trying to get the Crack'em off the ground, but I'm sure I'll have other ideas in the future.

FP:I have to ask this - what is your favorite egg dish to make? To eat?

DT: I  actually love omelets! Typically I'll put as many vegetables and meat as I can in my omelets. In my mind the more the merrier!

Dave , this recipe for  Chock Fulla Omelet is for you!

Ingredients
1-2 eggs. well beaten
1/2 cup any meat (I like ham but you can put any kind from cooked ground beef to sausage to bacon}
1/2 cup mix of any veggies (I like onions and green peppers but you can choose your own}
1 tablespoon MELTED butter

Mix ingredients and pour into a microwave egg muffin cooker. Cook for two minutes. Serve on English muffin or toast. You can also add any kind of cheese too to the recipe.

Bridge Club Holiday Classics

The best holiday memories always come from the kitchen. We may not remember the fancy dresses or jammies we received or whose college team were the state's football stars, but we remember the roasts and grvies, sides and of course the desserts. Nothing beats a homecooked holiday meal or party/ Luckily there's a cookbout just out to help create those memories.

Best of Bridge Holiday Classics(Robert Rose Press) is a great compilation of breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes along with recipes for party foods and desserts. The authors are eight ladies who not only wrote and tried these recipes but  also played endless and ruthless games of bridge together. Bridge parties always have some kind of food to snack on and these Calgary  ladies brought some interesting ones to the bridge table. It has been almost forty years since the first cookbooks were published . They are extremely popular and have been passed down now for almost three generations.The recipes reflect the British  and French influence  with English spiced beef and beef bourguignon. SOme are similar to American Midwestern dishes like cheesy scalloped potatoes and pork roast.There's  also a whole section  on leftover recipes, a great help especially during the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas.Another good section is the one for food gifts. There are great recipes for Crazy Crunch, a homemade version of Fiddle Faddle along with the very interesting green tomato mincemeat.

Best of Bridge Holiday Classics is also the perfect book for party throwers. Even the dishes would make any Saturday night cocktail party or Sunday football gathering.Try the Bridge ladies recipe for crepes that can have either chicken or crab filling. These are perfect for an evening with the girls, followed with a lemon soufflé recipe ,also from the book. Any of the recipes would be perfect at a tree trimming party/There are recipes for spicy chili con carne and a tasty Sumptuous Spinach and Artichoke dip.Planning on an elegant black tie New Year's Eve party? Then make a variety of pates offered. There's a meatless one made with  sharp Stilton cheese blended with brandy and a chicken liver one spiked with mace and dry sherry. The holiday breakfast recipes are great when hosting the relatives or just waking up on a snowy day.There's Scotty 's Nest Eggs, a take on Eggs Benedict along with that recipe  and sausage pie, loaded with sausage and spices.Their chewy  French toast is zested up with orange liqueur and pure cream., a perfect dish to wake up to on a cold, frosty morning.
If you love holiday cooking , Best of Bridge Holiday Classics is for you. There are recipes for almost eveyr meal, from brunch to dinner , from parties to dinners..They will create culinary memories everyone will remember for years to come.