Gifts For The Home Chef

With the holidays a mere two months away, it's time to think about what to get the home chef. To be honest , someone who loves to cook and bake is about the easiest person to shop for. He or she  may need new gadgets to replace the old ones or may need new pots or pans.There's also new inventions and ingredients that make surprising and exciting gifts.

Before you even think about shopping, assess what the receiver has or needs in the kitchen. If their blender is not working up to par, then you know what to buy for them.Are their knives getting dull? Then either gift them with a sharpening stone or a new set. Do they like working with spices? Time to get a new improved spice rack. Another must is fishing. Ask about the kitchen in general or if they've tried any new dishes. If your favorite home chef is into Mexican  then get a fajita pan  along with different chiles.If they're swooning about French cuisine, then you know they'd be over the moon about a crepe pan. Also look around their kitchen as well. Frayed dish towels tell you a replacement set would be well appreciated.A shortage of microwave dishes means  you that buying a new, more diverse set . Also check their stocks. Nothing beats gift baskets full of much needed olive oils or bags of soup ingredients. Appliance gifts are a bit different.If you're thinking about giving a new stove, dishwater or fridge , bring the home chef with you. Mak for this e sure all warrantees and insurance are in your home chef's name too.

Then there is the fun side of foodie and home chef gift giving. There are so many cooking centric items out there, it really is hard to pick any kind of gift. One of the best and most comprehensive stores  for this  kind of shopping is Sur La Table. I highly recommend it because it has a cornucopia of appliances  plus food stuffs such as the kit for making doughnuts (along with the doughnut pans to make a tasty baked treat) The store also carries a broad variety of rubs from a lively espresso to a Parmesan one for roasted veggies. Sur la Table also has an extensive collections of special pots and pans along with excellent quality cutlery and carving boards. Of course cookbooks are a must give. Nothing is as fun as an old fashioned cookbook that can be leafed through or pored over. There are ones for almost every taste , both literally and figuratively. My favorite is Dr. Mayim Bialik's (Amy Farrah Fowler on "The Big Bang Theory") Mayim's Vegan Table.This is a great book for both vegans and non vegans alike, with her cool  takes on pancakes , tofu sausage and sprout and potato croquettes/ There are some other greats from Chris Kimball of America's Test Kitchen , along with Women's Day,.

Shopping for a foodie or home chef is the  easiest chore. You can buy them anything kitchen related or food centric and it will be a big hit. With any luck they will use it right away to make you a tasty thank you treat!

Those Other Fall Fruits

By now everyone is probably applied out.They're all over , from groceries to pick your own.They're in everything from galettes to ciders to candied treats.However they're are some interesting other fall fruits out there.They"re a refreshing escape from Granny Smith mania. The elegant pear is another fall fruit that often is overlooked for the apple.There are just as many different types as the apple.There are close to fifty different varieties with the Anjo,Bosc and Sickle pear being the most popular in the US.One tasty one, and popular right now is the French butter variety. supermarkets feature these.The flesh is sweet ,almost candy like in taste with a thin crunchy skin.These are the best for baking and cooking, however they truly make a refreshing snack or dessert.One of the best to cook with is the Bosc.This golden yellow beauty hold's it's shape while cooking .It also has more of a pear aroma than the other kinds.Sickles are the tiniest, being able to fit on the palm of one's hand.As for recipes, they are more classy than the typical fruit ones.A cake topped with them is the perfect end to a dinner with friends? Sorbet is a different yet fresh way to use the fruit.The sorbet can be used as a palate cleanser too between courses or just as a dessert.Home chefs can also use pears in salads too.Think a chicken ,celery and pear salad for a Sunday brunch, or a crisp Asian styled salad that pops and snaps with French butter pears and snow peas. Other Autumn fruits are the much overlooked quince and pomegranate.Quince is a sort of hard sell because it has to be cooked first.The raw fruit is only good when it's going bad.Quince was actually the source for marmalade ,and the jam's name comes from the Portuguese word for quince.It is also the main ingredient in the Northern Italian treat frutta mustarda, a tarty confection of the fruit's syrup, and mustard, along with preserved peaches ,pears and cherries.it is also good in jam,as well as some beef and lamb recipes.The last two are huge in the Arab culture,and many ceremonies often feature a meat dish with it.Another choice is serving homemade quince jam with cheese as many Italians do.Pomengrante is another fall fruit that is both healthy and tasty.The fruit is having a moment right now thanks to it being so heart healthy.It also reduces joint pain as well.The juice can add Zing to regular apple cider but is also amazing in champagne.It's festive in guacamole but can also add lift to any salad.Try it with spinach or kale for an interesting spin.Pomegranate juice is an interesting ingredient in a meat sauce for pork, or even better, duck. Forget the apple. Try the other fall stars, pears, quinces and pomegranates.They are elegant and unusual, perfect for a different spin on fall harvests!

The Recipe For Invention

Invention is usually born out of need Some of the greatest kitchen gadgets of the 19th and 20th Centuries have come from need.It still continues in this century with a lot of great ideas.To be honest it's the easiest now.If you have a novel idea for making kitchen prep or storage easier , then let it be known . You'd be surprised as who's interested. Foodie Pantry encourages inventors with new ideas.If you have something you feel needs publicity, contact FP at Lizrwriter@aol.com.Samples are always welcome, along with any background info. Also if there are any new foods , treats or drinks,you can also contact us.There's nothing like being on the cutting edge with anything newly created.I've interviewed some interesting inventors like David Tennant who created the very handy and very useful Crackem along with foodie entrepreneurs who cashed in on their and their family's recipes.The blog is always on the look out for the latest inventions, trends ,techniques along with gadgets and methods. There are also other outlets in which to promote brand new ideas.There is Kickstarter which is the most honest.They have a food section where inventors, cooks and bakers can receive funding for their projects.In fact contributors raised close to fifty six million dollars supporting and funding inventors and food innovators.There have been over three thousand successfully funded Kickstarter campaigns.Everyhing from microwave egg scramblers to oyster farms have befitted from other's generosity . It 's also great way to get in on the ground floor of something big.Another site is Quirky.This is just a so so site and more of a popularity contest.On the plus side if your invnetion or foodstuff does do well you can make a lot of money.Also Quirky let's you participate in the manufacturing process of other items, from naming them to deciding on the color and price points.Kitchen inventors should absolutely stay away from Invent Help and Davidson.These two companies,probably linked or somehow related ,are the biggest scam artists ever.They pressure new inventors into buying their package for an initial one thousand dollars.Three months later they meet again with inventors and pressure them into buying the whole package deal for ten grand.Sadly they do not allow any reneging or canceling .Both companies go through a half hearted attempt in drawing brochures for the inventors project , sometimes there is literally a year's wait to hear from them again.Kickstarter is the really the best way to go. Necessity and the wish for an easier kitchen and more interesting pantry are the mothers of invention.If you have created,baked or cooked, let the world know.Also let us at the pantry.We'd be happy to help you on the road to success and stardom!

Not Your Average Italian Cook

Italian cuisine is the most traditional of all cuisines.Or is it?There 's a new kind of chef that's rethinking traditional dishes while still honoring centuries of good recipes.He's creating quite a stir and gaining a massive fan base. Melissa Clark not only got to interview this chef,Massimo ,Bottura but got to sample his nonna's risotto, a milky creation that include the usual arborio rice AND cappuccino . Chef Bottura come from Modena, a well known culinary area where fresh ingredients and good recipes abound.He is the chef and owner there of the three starred Osteria Francesana.Ms.Clark opened up her kitchen to him where he made riso al latte or rice and milk.This is a traditional dish grandmothers male for the or nicotini or grandchildren.However he modernizes it with a covering of bread crumb foam,this last thanks to his nitrous oxide siphon.Even wilder is the tomato berry salad drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar.Ms Clark liked this,her daughter, more of food critic than her mom, didn't. Well not at first.He gave her a puff of breadcrumb foam(Chef Bottura specializes in foam) and she didn't cotton to it.However both mother and daughter loved the rice underneath, after he added some sweetened cappuccino.This is more of a dessert than a dinner.Think an espresso laced rice pudding which would be great after grilled meat or another Bottura recipe bollito misto or boiled meat. Chef Bottura is somewhat of a wild card on the Italian restaurant scene.He takes traditional recipes and zings them into another stratosphere. Ms Clark fell in love with his dishes when she visited his restaurant in Modena.His plates are a mix of traditional Emilia Romagna and an homage to Ferran Adria, the great chef who introduced foamed sauces to the public at his famed El Bulli.It comes as no surprise then to learn that the chef spent a summer working there, learning and absorbing the take on post Modern cooking.Like Chef Adria he combines science with cooking.He is known for Memory Of A Mortadella Sandwich, a rosette of mortadella foam along with Snow Under The Sunan unusualamd highly interesting raw potatoes with porcini gelatin coffee powder and snails.His take on bollito misto was almost considered a sacrilege by fellow chefs because he re imagined it as the Manhattan skyline.The meat is not boiled but cooked sous vide,cooking it in. Gasp plastic bags.He has famous fans too who praise his outré ideas such as the late and always great Lou Reed,along with fellow chefs Mario Battali who dubbed him the Jimi Hendrix of Italian Chefs.For fans or those curious about his recipes, Chef Bottura has a brand new cookbook Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef. Chef Bottura is rethinking and changing the face of Italian cuisine.It may not be what purists want but it is what modern foodie's want.It is different but still maintains the flavors and ingredients of a traditional Italy.

Tarte Tatin Easy As Pie

Most home bakers have made at least one apple pie by now.This is apple season and the most obvious dish is pie.Unfortunately many find the recipe cloying the process tedious.If that's the case then look to the French.Their recipe tarte that in is a great way to use apples and enjoy a luxurious but relatively easy dessert. Julia Moskin recommended this recipe in her Recipe Lab Column in today's New York Times Dining section.Even though she is an accomplished baker as well as cook, she sought advice from Ron Paprocki, pastry chef at the famed Gotham Bar and Grill.His tarte Tatin is so well liked that it has a cult following.This dessert isn't really so much of a pie but a fluffy , buttery tart,it's origins coming from the Hotel Tatin in the Sologne region of the Loire Valley.It requires both the stove top and the oven, but it's not as complicated as that.Really. The apples are caramelized first then the bottom crust is put over them.The entire tarte is then flipped and baked in an oven.The result is a heavenly mix of buttery layered crust and the fruit.One of the aspects of the pie is it doesn't have cinnamon or brown sugar to detract from the rich earthy sweetness of the apple slices.It just the sugar and butter that brings it all to another level.Unlike American pies that require the tart Granny Smith tarte Tatin requires Braeburn or a mix of the Grannies and Honeycrisps to balance out the first 's tartness.The apples should be peeled and quartered before baking.As for the crust you can make it yourself or just buy the puff pastry. With any French dish, it's all about the hardware and the technique.You should have a heavy skillet for cooking the apples.This makes for a better caramelization and cooking Another must is drying the apples so they're not soggy.This is a have to because it can ruin the tart's texture.Pastry chef Paprocki recommends this,his method being leaving the sliced and peeled apples in bowls.Fans are then set around to dry them out.Home bakers can do this just by putting the slices in bowl covered by paper towels and placing it in the fridge for a couple of days. The result is leathery apples but doing this makes them hold their shapes during the caramelization process.Said process can be daunting however there's no need to freak out over this.Carmelization is actually easy.First take a layer of butter in the pan; this acts as a buffer to the then added white sugar.The apples are then put into a flower petal arrangement, standing up as opposed to just laying down.They are then caramelized,bathed in a mix of their own juices with the butter and sugar,.The pastry is then draped over them, kind of like draping a blanket over oneself.This should be done after five minutes and then popped into a waiting and hot oven.Don't worry if it turns out as a mush,This is one of the best parts of the tart Tatine.It is good on it's own but you can add a creme fraiche to it. Tarte Tatin is a tasty alternative to apple pie. It is a happy marriage of butter ,sugar and apples. This modern French classic is a great way to celebrate the harvest.

A Perfect Tea For Coleridge

Today is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's birthday and for many of his fans, including myself , this is a day to celebrate the great poet's birthday.He was born in the lovely Devonshire town of Ottery Saint Mary , where cream teas and other good food abound.This is English country food, of the finest farm to table and sea to table variety. Devon is a coastal county or shire located on the English Channel.It may be the birthplace of Coleridge but its main seaside town, Torquay, became famous thanks to the hilarious TV show "Faulty Towers" over forty years ago.The area boasts true farm to table cuisine.One of the most famous dishes is the pasty.This is a small, handheld pie stuffed with meat, usually beef or sausage.The pastry is buttery and flaky ,a melt in your mouth treat, especially if the filling is juicy and tender.Another tea or lunch time treat is white pudding, a highly spiced pork sausage.Mutton, lamb and beef are abundant here and everyone from visiting foodie's to locals can enjoy a variety of different roasts and stews .Since there are plenty of creameries, there is also plenty of good cheese.A favorite and decadent treat is fried cheese.This is when small wedges of different cheeses are breaded and then deep fried .A dash of tart lignon berry jam.They also love potted cheese, basically leftover cheese mixed with butter an, pounded for malleability and then poured into a pot.Sometimes sherry is added for zing and then it's served with bread or crackers.There is some good cheese here, from the cream cheese like Curworthy and Sharpham, a Devon take on the French Brie.Surprisingly seaweed plays a part in the diet too, thanks to locals gathering it up from the Devon coast. It's not as popular as it once was, however some chefs are cooking with it and appreciate it's nutritional value The county is also famed for it's cream teas.This is a proper English tea but with clotted cream generously dotting scones along with a healthy scoop of homemade jam.Most usually serve the tame and almost boring strawberry jam but some prefer the highly tart and eye opening rhubarb and gooseberry sorts.Devon is also known for their apples and these along with apple cakes abound here.Some recipes have been handed down since Elizabethan times and I'm sure Coleridge enjoyed a few during his boyhood in the Devon countryside?Clotted cream also figures in fudge as well.Creameries featuring fresh made ice cream is sold throughout the area, some creameries even using clotted cream as a base. Samuel Taylor Coleridge grew up with some of the freshest foods for his time.They can still be enjoyed today, thanks to the purity and abundance of meats, fish produce and dairy.Devonshire food is the food of poets, supplying them with sustenance for centuries.

A Healthy Birthday

Can you have your birthday cake and eat it too? Most diet conscious people will say no and insist on a tiny sliver instead of a hearty slice.However even a decadent birthday meal can also be good for you healthy.You can go crazy for your birthday , but it can be backed up with reason and thought. One of the most wanted or desired birthday meals is lobster.It is rich in flavor and the height of decadence,as well as self indulgence,It isn't high in calories, and it is vitamin and mineral packed.It's loaded with magnesium, niacin or Vitamin and potassium.It is high in cholesterol however so if you do have cholesterol issues, rethink it.Yes, you can have it with butter but for a better choice, just ask for a lemon wedge to spritz on it.You can also turn the lobster into a salad, with a simple olive oil and lemon or lime dressing.Serve it with bright and crisp Romaine lettuce along with Campari tomatoes and corn kernels. You could also make a lobster wrap with a tarragon dressing. Roast beef is another birthday wish for.It's a low calorie meat with only fifty four calories a slice.Unfortunately so many people love their roast beef on bread or stuffing ,drenched in gravy.This is the height of tastiness but drenched in fat and cholesterol, not to mention starch.A better alternative is a steak salad ,with a bed of kale, beefsteak tomatoes ,and red peppers.Nothing beats a beef fajita .You can even make this at home for a festive in house party.Cook up onions and peppers and just top with fresh made guacamole and salsa .If you want a tad of creaminess add just a dollop of sour cream.You could also add steak to pasta sauce for a truly delicious meal. As for sweets, yes there is is the birthday cake.The best part is the icing.?Let's face it nothing beats the sweet creaminess of a well made buttercream and that absolute prize, the pink blue or yellow buttercream rose.Each tablespoon has about sixty calries of fat.If you truly want the traditional taste for your big day, then gofer a cupcake.One 'loaded" cupcake is about three hundred calories.The best part is no leftovers.If you do want. Cake then think about an angel food cake.This is only seventy two calories per slice.What is great abut angel food cake is that it pairs up well with everything. One of the best is strawberries or blueberries but you can also try sliced banana with dark chocolate sauce.Also have a big blob of Cool Whip on top too.Fruit pies are another low calorie birthday treat .Add Ginger for zing and if you're baking it yourself,, then go for farm picked ones.A fruit birthday cake is super healthy and super fun.All you need is a watermelon as the base and various other fruits as decorations.Ice cream cakes are also big. However you can make a healthier one using frozen Greek yogurt along with fruit, syrup and CoolWhip as the icing. You can have your birthday cake and meal and eat them too.Just have it on the healthy side.It's a birthday gift to yourself, one that"s good for your heart and taste buds.