An Ambrosial Cake

One of the best warm weather salads is ambrosia.It's a sweet concoction that usually finds it way to backyard barbecues and picnics. Take it one step further and transform this classic dish into a cake. It then becomes truly worthy of its' name - ambrosial food for the gods.

Melissa Clark wrote about it in her A Good Appetite Column in yesterday's New York Times Food section. I think it would be an excellent end to an Easter dinner, the cake's sweet fluffiness being a great foil to a salty ham and potato salad. Ambrosia, for those not familiar with this American classic, is a sweet salad that can be served before, with or after a meal. It's mostly made during barbecues or family buffets and every family has their own spin on the recipe. It's made with a heavy dose of tropical fruit, some kind of frosting and plenty of flaked coconut.Some go heavy with the  fruit, going  heavy with the orange slices and pineapple chunks along with adding extra banana slices. A few home chefs like the idea of crunch so pecans are thrown in while others turn their ambrosias technicolor with the addition of maraschino cherries Whipped cream is usually blended in but yogurt can be used as well. Of course, there's the flaked coconut that's added in by the cup (or cups).Imagine all this  modified in a cake with a tangy curd filling along with a slug of coconut rum.It's iced in a fluffy meringue and then doused with sweetened coconut flakes.

The ambrosia element is modified. Ms. Clark decided on fewer elements and uses them with a slight difference than from the original recipe. She skips the cloying pineapple and banana but keeps the zingy citrus, going for seedless clementines over mandarins and oranges.She juices them to go into a tangy curd that will be used as the cake's filling. She suggests if you like the pineapple and banana, then add them but only to the filling to get the taste, The flour used is all purpose  and there's only a tablespoon of baking powder added for leavening. It's a rich, eggy cake employing four of them.There's also a stick and a quarter of unsalted butter to give the crumb a  golden color.The filling is again a curd, zested up with clementines and a third of a cup of lemon juice. the filling is butter rich too  with a stick of unsalted butter used .The whites from the filling's yolks can go into making the frosting, a sweet fluff made over a simmering water bath.The frosting has to be immediately put on the cake and then press the coconut flakes on the sides and  top. You can decorate with sliced clementines and strawberries.

Ambrosia cake is the perfect cake to serve on Easter Sunday. It's a rich blend of butter cake, fruit and curd, wrapped in a sweet and light marshmallow coating. Serve this dish  - that's worthy of the gods/

Lamb The New Easter Dish Again

Easter cooking can present a dilemma to many home chefs. Will they go with the traditional ham or try  lamb , another truly traditional main course? That's the conumdrum facing many. Ham is delicious and can provide with enough leftovers for a week. Lamb,  is rich tasting, marrying ancient and modern times together. It's also becoming trendy thanks to a more adventurous American palate.

Kim Severson explores the two in her column in today's New York Times Food section. She herself grew up on Easter ham dinners, thanks to a mother who was raised on a dairy farm that also raised pigs. Serving ham was a no brainer.It also provided her family with more than enough leftovers for a variety of different dishes, from sandwiches to pea soup.However it is time to try lamb. It's making a comeback with a newer generation who are into Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes and flavors. Most older Americans have an aversion to the meat ,preferring beef and pork. One of the reasons why is that US soldiers were fed rations of lamb because the meat was so abundant. There were fifty-six million sheep  in 1946. Now there is only about six million.Lamb chops themselves,  are still considered a luxury item, only being served at high priced restaurants or special dinners at home.Leg of lamb can be tricky to cook and many home chefs just cooked it and slapped some mint jelly on it, hoping for the best.Today lamb is gaining in popularity with people buying lamb shanks,
lamb necks, and ribs.There is even a lamb ham that's also gaining in popularity these days.

How should you cook lamb? Ms. Severson goes back to her Italian roots and tries a Roman style Spring lamb with sugar snap peas. She gets three pounds of young lamb from the shoulder or the leg and  cuts it into uniform two inch cubes. After seasoning the cubes with salt and pepper, they're cooked in lard or olive oil. it's an easy cook, putting the cubes in batches and sauteing them. Rosemary and garlic are added along with sifted flour. White wine or Champagne is poured in along with water. It's simmered for an hour. At this point take some of the sauce from it and mix it with four large anchovy fillets (it reminds me of fileto Piedmontese - where anchovies are cooked with steak juices to create a mouthwatering sauce). The sauce is then poured back into the pan and over the lamb cubes. Ms. Severson throws in a  sugar snap pea salad with Calabrian peppers and fennel. This is a spicy accompaniment with a dressing made from the peppers and their oil.Lemon zest, shallot and garlic are also added along with fresh lemon juice.The snap peas are julienned while the fennel is thinly shaved. Shaved pecorino is then sprinkled on top. I would add fingerling potatoes roasted in garlic and olive oil  to round it out.

Ham may be associated with Easter but lamb now is giving the traditional meat its' run. It is versatile and delicious, perfect for the holiday. Try it and taste its richness and lux flavor.

Cook On A Hot Tin Roof

What happens when an early heat wave arrives? Don't cook. Adopt a summer attitude when it comes to cooking and baking. Look more towards lighter fare and less time in the kitchen. Wipe off the grill and get it fired up.. It's too hot to cook indoors..

An unexpected burst of high temps leaves most home chefs flummoxed . After all, they've planned a week of dinners and even lunches that require preheating the oven and roasting or cooking.Air conditioning should be turned on full blast but if you don' t  have it installed yet take heart. The microwave is your best friend during these times. If it can be microwaved do it. Those meat pies and pizzas can be zapped quickly instead of  baking in a hot 375 degree F ovens. Even preheating can be bad because it turns a kitchen into a proofing drawer. Most meat pies take almost an hour  to thoroughly cook up - which means being stuck and eating in a steam bath. Another idea is to just get cold cuts and make sandwiches along with getting premade salads. If the cold cuts don;t cut it  for you nitrates , then buy a whole roasted chicken or ribs at your local grocery. Acme now has roasters that are already cut into pieces and Stop & Shop has bags of fried chicken.

If the temps get too irritating, then get out the grill. You can still grill those steaks and salmon you planned  on cooking in the oven. They may even taste better than what you originally had planned for them originally. Marinate them in teriyaki  or barbecue sauce. The roast chicken and Cornish hens can even be put on the barbecue.. They do need to be spatchcocked or split open for grilling. Even if you planned on cooking a small turkey, it can be spatchcocked or butterflied and cooked on the grill as well. As for those veggies, put them in foil packets next to the meat. It's an easy fuss-free way of cooking them during an early heat wave. Add butter or olive oil along with herbs and spices to the packets. Again this may be better than what you originally had planned.A grilled dinner leads into a grilled dessert. It's never too early for s'mores. Some stores are already pushing the components so take advantage of that. Try something fun, like subbing in dark chocolate for milk  chocolate or chocolate graham crackers for the regular. You can also have grilled fruit kabobs, using apple and pineapple chunks along with grapes.

Don't let a heat wave leave you hot and bothered. Be cool - and keep your lunches and dinners the same way. It'll be a breeze to make - and to eat.

Warm Weather Prep

The temps are going to hit the 80's  and that means one thing - outdoor eating! It's time to gear up for barbecues and picnics. Before you say goodbye to indoor cooking and eating, there's a few things to consider

It is time to set out the grill. Before you roast anything, take a long look at your old one. Try it out. Does it still work?If anything seems off or faulty then start looking at new ones. Lowe's and Home Depot have pre-season sales so now is the time to buy a name brand. Also, if you feel you need a bigger one, then switch out before they become more popular and your choices become limited. If you're happy with your old one, then it's time for cleaning. You should have grill cleaning tools to help along with soap. If you want to go all natural, baking soda and/or distilled vinegar should do the trick. Buy grill cleaning wipes too.They will help in cleaning those hard to reach nooks and crannies. Also buy an ash shovel, a stainless steel scooper and scraper which removes any of last year's residual ashes.Check all energy sources too. Buy a new tank of butane or check cords and wires if you have an electric grill.This is also the time to add on to the grill. Think about a condiment basket where you can store sauces , ketchup and mustard along with grill pans and heating tents.

That other outdoor activity - picnics are on people''s minds too as the temps heat up. As with the grill, look at your cooler and decide if you need a new one or will keep the one you have. If you were unhappy with a smaller one, then upgrade to a larger , rolling one. This is perfect for the park or the beach and is excellent for camping. It not only keeps drinks and water cool, but also salad containers too. There are also insulated picnic baskets too. These fit comfortably in any trunk or back seat. Again this is perfect for sandwiches, snacks and drinks.There are also picnic tote bag which packs a smaller meal for two or three people. Another aspect to think about is what kind of containers to buy. You could go with Tupperware which is pricey but durable.  - think a life span of over ten years but you can go with cheaper ones from Target,,Wal-Mart and even grocery stores such as Acme and Stop & Shop. For a more environmentally friendly basket , also consider melanine plates and utensils instead of styrofoam and paper plates and cups.These can be bought at Target in fun colors and patterns.Have plastic utensils too and reuse these, instead of throwing them out.

It's the season for eating out . Fire up the grill and get the picnic basket ready.It's time  to food al fresco again.

Just Desserts For Your Holidays

Everyone obsesses about the Easter and Passover dinners  - what to serve and how its' going to be cooked. Yet dessert is just as important . It provides not only an end to the meal but the time to really relax and chat with family and friends. There should be just as much thought put into it as the main meals.

Easter can be a time of  gravity or fun.  An easy idea for a cross is buying  five pound cakes and arrange in a cross shape. It's then decorating them with white buttercream icing and marzipan flowers. Craft shops do sell cross cake molds so making one is doable. It's usually double the amount of batter and icing.Another religious themed cake is the Easter lamb. You need a special mold for this which can be bought at any kitchen store along with a dense pound cake batter. Ice with buttercream and coconut to simulate the lamb's wooly coat along with colored icing for the eyes, ear interiors and nose.  Another idea is just a regular round cake decorated with buttercream or cream cheese icing lilies. Then there is the fun shaped egg, bunn,,y and carrot cakes. Bake these in a simple chocolate or vanilla or for whimsy  - carrot. Decorate an egg cake with colored icing, pastel sprinkles (which can be bought at your local grocery or Target) and colored sugar.. A bunny cake can also be coated in flaked coconut for a fuzzy look. If there are kids, then think fun cupcakes iced in Easter colors. You can do a two color swirl on top for extra fun or turn the cakes into mini baskets. This requires green icing for the grass. Use red string licorice or green pipe cleaners for the basket handle and of course, jelly beans for the eggs.

Passover presents a different but exciting challenge - baking without flour.  There are many cakes and cookies that are flourless, and would work well ending any seder. For the first night, you may want to try a show stopper. Think a chocolate sponge made with ground almonds and ten eggs to give it a chewy , sweet density. A real crowd pleaser would be the Passover brownie cake, made with finely ground matzoh which many cooks use  to create all sorts of baked goods.It, too, is rich in eggs, using five along with a cup and a quarter of almonds.Passover cakes can even be layer cakes and there is a seven layer one created from  not surprisingly - matzoh sheets. It's creating a kind of mousse with eggs, melted chocolate margerine, and sugar and spreading it on layers of  kedim soaked matzoh. This is made with raw eggs, so be careful with who it's served to. Macarons are another holiday tradition. It's creating airy puffs from egg whites, and white sugar along with desiccated coconut. You can go trendy and use aquafaba - bean water.It's the protein rich water that chickpeas are canned in and since it has the same make up as egg whites can be made into a glossy meringue . The bean flavor dissipates with cooking and the finished product is a glossy , light as a feather treat.

Easter and Passover are all about the traditional foods. Just remember to just make dessert as important as the min meal. It can be serious or fun,. but always full of sweetness and flavor.

Easter And Passover Catered Or Home Cooked?

Nothing beats a holiday with a table full of food and tradition especially the. Easter and Passover ones. With them comes the question of catered or home cooked? Would it better and easier on the home chef if the whole brunch or dinner was cooked? Or are family recipes important and vital in keeping up tradition?

Easter may be the easier dinner - especially in the States - to have catered. Every family has different traditions. Southern Italians and Greeks are the most traditional, cooking and baking foods and bread recipes that have been passed down for centuries.Everyone else usually just makes ham and a few sides.Some groceries such as Acme and Stop & Shop will work with you to create the perfect holiday dinner. They'll offer sliced ham and/or turkey along with sides such as potato  and macaroni salads along with throwing in a festive Easter cake.Easter brunch is always popular and there are shops and caterers who will bring in such brunch favorites as quiche, scrambled eggs and even French toast.Of course, all of this can be made at home and there is a lot of control as to the ingredients. If you don't want an elaborate Easter meal, then think of a German style one.It's a roast ham with do it yourself potato salad and handcrafted baked beans. All these are labor intensive but the homemade taste is worth it. Dessert can be a simple lamb, bunny or egg shaped cake, and again these can be baked on Holy Saturday.

Passover is a bit trickier because there are strict family traditions involved.  Some Kosher markets can cater the entire menu, creating even better versions of tsimme  - a sweet stew of carrots and dried fruit and charoset - the sweet paste of apples, cinnamon, and raisins, symbolizing the mortar used in building the pyramids. Many caterers will offer such traditonal dishes as kugel but with a hip twist such as broccoli and spinach added.The main courses could be an entire brisket or roast chicken or both if you're hosting a crowd. caterers can also supply chopped liver and gefilte fish too. yet there is something in making decades old family recipe too.Relatives may want the family version of charoset which is not only rich in flavor but also stories too. They also make want just your matzoh ball soup, because of the way you make the balls or because you add scallions for bite and color. Unlike Easter, Passover lasts  a week and you could easily cook one night and have the second night seder catered. It's up to you and what you can handle.

Catering or home cooked? What makes for a better holiday meal. It's up to you and what you want.

Hippie Food Gone Establishment

Just as boho defines fashion these days, it is also spreading into our cooking and eating habits too. Those natural seeds and grains along with fermented brews are becoming more mainstream than Twinkies and cheeseburgers.It's a definite trend but one with good and lasting results.

Christine Muhlke wrote about this in her article in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Ms. Muhlke ,a writer for Bon Appetit magazine, explored how food once thought of as "hippie" is becoming big in kitchens and tables all over the US. Like yoga, meditation,and the uber counterculture symbol, Birkenstocks, crunchy granola food  such as granola, itself, along with almond milk and kombucha tea are in more homes. Many have embraced the clean eating movement where kale reigns supreme and is included in almost every recipe. The question is why now. It could be that we're all tired of this technology and virtual reality and want something real eapecially in our eating t.Chef Geraldo Gonzalez, chef of the Manhattan eatery, LaLito, feel people may be moved to seek out the more restorative and "actual foods.They want the mouthfeel, aromas and flavors to connect them back to reality. His own recipes are what he terms "hippie Chicano" such as vegan chiccharrones and cucumber salad with brown mole vinaigrette.This is an alternative to all those bad foods such as meat dairy and starch, ingredients that cause brain fog according to Chef. Gonzalez

The "hippie" eating movement is also a backlash to the meat heavy, super-masculine style restaurants, according to another chef,Alissa Wagner, one of the owners of Manhattan's Dimes.Eating more natural and more green is a definite protest.Another reason she feels, is that diners are also more educated in how they eat and knowledgable about where their food comes from.Of course, restaurants are quick to jump on this trend. There is Tartine Manufactory in always food forward  San Francisco. It is a blend of roast beef sandwiches with green farro and roasted carrot salad.New York has just introduced abcV , created by Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for the abc furniture and home goods store Its' menu hightlights organic all vegetable dishes such as a ramen noodle soup made with Meyer lemon and curry leaf boullion with pea shoots and beech mushrooms and spinach spaghetti with broccoli, and kale, Cookbooks are also featuring crunchy granola recipes. Such big names as Martha Stewart  and Wolfgang Puck are jumping on this trends with books devoted to healthier and more all natural cooking. The rock star of vegan restaurants, the famed Thug Kitchen is also coming out with another cookbook that makes eating quinoa and teff uber hip.

All this hippie eating has good benefits.We'll all hahve heathier bodies and habits if we go back to fermnted and whole grain foods. It's not just a trend but a way of life too.