Teterboro's' Restaurant Row

Mention the town Teterboro to anyone from North Jersey and they'll say  "That's where the airport is." Now  it's home to an exciting row of chain restaurants. These are a welcome arrival to those living in southern Bergen County, giving us new eateries to try and enjoy.

For years' the southern part of New Jersey's most prosperous county  had mostly privately owned restaurants, offering the usual Chinese or Italian fare. Once  in a while an all you can eat buffet cropped up.Thnaks to the tearing down of the old Bendix Building , acreage opened up in this busy section of the Garden State. Wal-mart and CostCo took over and in front of them two , smart, shiny new strip malls. Locals can now enjoy everything from pizza to halal, from Japanese to frozen yogurt. There are even two chain restaurants , one the famed Texas Roadhouse and the other is BJ's. These are great burger and steak places that also offer pasta and tacos. I have yet to visit these but they 're on my must see list. I'm especially looking forward to Texas Roadhouse , known for their sumptuous steaks and  their cactus blossom, their take on the Bloomin onion. Their rattlesnake bites, namely jalapeno poppers also look intriguing while . their steaks are very impressive looking too.

I have eaten at most of the smaller restaurants, starting with Habit Burger. I reviewed it a year ago when it first opened, and was not happy with the result. I am planning on returning to see if they improved their recipe. One of the better eateries there is Sarku, a Japanese fast food place that features teriyaki along with sushi. Their shrimp and beef is excellent as is their chicken. Another good place to eat is Blaze Pizza where everyone gets an entire , freshly made pie I have to admit I did have reservations about this place, thinking it would be just blah generic stuff . Boy, was I wrong. The pizza tastes exaclty like the ones I've had in Italy. . Just a perfect marriage of sauce, cheese and crust. I also love the cherry soda they serve too.. The Halal Guys are another tasty stop,with pitas filled with chicken and tahini. They also have very good falafel too. The meal ends with a trip to Panera Bread. Nothing beats their cappuccino and holiday mitten cookies. That's another place I want to try for lunch too. There's also Sixteen Handles which has the best frozen yogurt and toppings. Try their Chocolate Brownie with a big blob of whipped cream.

If you're in southern Bergen County, visit the new Teterboro Lamding. Yes, you can shop at the Wal-Mart and CostCo, but try the wide variety of restaurants that are there. They are fun and different, perfect for a meal out.

Panettonne That Holiday Classic

The classic big boxes are standards right now in supermarkets and gourmet stores right now up until the New Year. They store gold of a sort,  panettones , those delicious buttery breads filled with everything from candied cherries to chocolate chips.Its' complicated recipe is now becoming an obsession with American bakers.

Tejal Rao wrote about this holiday must have in yesterday's New York Times Food section. The recipe was usually the domain of expert Northern Italian bakers , thanks to its' complexity . According to Ms. Rao, it is wildly sensitive , demanding and occassionally infuriating. It is a yeast dough , after all and that is not always easy to deal with in baking.It is a high maintenance dough . The end result should be an airy crumb that can be pulled apart with the ease of pulling apart cotton candy It should be sweet and light ,melting on the tongue.It should be as weightless as cake and have a slight tang like sourdough. Many Italian bakers begin with lieveto madre the starter.Some recipes don;t call for this,Jim Labey of the Sullivan Street Bakery  has a recipe that calls for less sugar which also means no starter . The home baker can just make a simpler version of it called pan d'oro or golden bread. It's essential a panettone without all the  mixing and baking drama.
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Prosperous households made the bread as early as the Medieval Period.. Even back then there was an obssessive amount of attention being paid  to technique and ingredients. Over the years as it became mass produced, it took on the qualities of a mass produced, perfumed sponge. One American baker from San Francisco, Roy Schvartzapel has elevated the recipe after tasting an artesenal one. It has a wispy  texture, melting instantly in his mouth and he recreated it with the help of Italian baker Iginio Massari outside of Milan. He makes small batches of it to sell. Other bakers have tried , some have relegated their doughs to the garbage. Screw up on it and it becomes trash. Everything about the panettone has to be perfect, from the fermentation to the timing, to the temperature, from the emulsion to the starter. Even as something as straightforward as mixing can have pitfalls. Maybe the best bet is taking the slices and turning it into a yummy bread pudding that starts off with toasting the panettone slices  and then covering them with an eggy milk mixture.It's then baked in a aluminum tented pan for forty-five minutes. The end result is a  puffed, golden treat , perfect for a holiday dessert.

Good home bakers should try this Italian treat. It can be a challenge but worth it. If not you can always buy it and turn it into a tasty bread pudding.

Soul Food Vegan Style

Can  soul food known for its' use of sumptuous ingredients do an about face and become healthy? Yes! There's a new wave of African-American chefs and home chefs who are embracing this lifestyle. The result - the same delicious flavors with a new spin.

Kim Severson wrote about this movement in today's New York Times Food section.,Typically soul food is awash in fats, dairy ,and sugar. This had led to obesity, hypertension and diabetes amongst African-Americans for decades. Many are looking deeper , going back to the vegan West African cuisine, their ancestors ate.Another game changer is infusing newer dishes with Caribbean spices to make them more exciting.\.It is catching on, There are books on black veganism by A.Breeze Harper who wrote the anthology Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak On Food, Identity, Health and Society along with Tracye Mcquirte's By Any Greens Necessary :A Revolutionary Guide For Black Women Who Want To Eat Great, Get Healthy , Lose Weight And Look Phat. These are life changers, breaking women of color from bad eating habits and easing them into healthy, more veggie-centric ones. It also doesn't hinder the fact that Beyonce and Jay-Z have embraced the lifestyle  by becoming partners in a vegan meal kit service.Several other rap stars have also gone meatless and dairyless.Oprah herself  took the vegan challenge and even presented it to her staff to give up meat.sports star such as the famed Williams sisters, Venus and Serenad meat and its' trapping to improve their game.

It is tough to give up the delicious flavors like bacon infused collard greens and the classic fried chicken. The last is the hardest, partly because of tradition and partly because of the taste. Surprisingly, it can be duplicated, much to the chagrin of the naysayers. Cauliflower can be used for the meat according to chef Jenne Claiborne, It'll have the same desired crunchy crust as the chicken but without the added fat.she also uses soy milk so there's also no added calories. Chef Caliborne has also made vegan collard greens, subbing in the fat back with soy sauce and smoked paprika. Ms Severson has given Chef Claiborne's Oyster Mushroom Etouffee, which is loaded with veggies and even dulse or seaweed flakes as opposed to the usual, seafood, chicken or Andouille sausage. There is also her mall style vegetable stir fry that includes chickpeas, bell peppers and broccoli. The sauce is sweetened by the addition of medjool dry dates. with this recipe, you could add the soy chicken strips to make it a little more like the real deal. Even desserts have been given the vegan treatments. Butternut squash has been used for  eggs in sweet potato pie.

The popularity of vegan soul food  is spreading. It's not giving up old classics but reinventing them for a healthier diet. There's the great flavors without all the fats and sugars.

Edward & Sons Animal & People Friendly

Vegans and vegetarians have it hard during the holidays .It's difficult to find festive foods that are free of any animal products. Now add the problem of gluten allergy and it  becomes darned difficult. Luckily, there's a company, Edward & Sons that can help them navigate through the season.

This California  company is a godsend to vegans everywhere. It started in 1978 long before vegetarianism and anything organic became hip. Their first product was a miso cup, a nourishing instant soup, again made long before any of the more popular cup of soups. The ingredients were freeze dried yet wholesome, packaged in a simple packet. Their products have now evolved into ones that have no artificial colors or flavorings. Moms will  be grateful for the fact that none of the products have been made with chemical preservatives and hydrogenated fats. The company is divided in sections. There's Premier Japan which has Hoisin and teriyako sauces. Their Native Forest line is perfect for vegan bakers. It has coconut milk, both liquid and powdered that work well in baking and creating a dairy free whipped cream. This is a company with a conscious and it promotes and supports fair trade with by buying its' artichokes and coconuts from fair trade farmers. Edward & Son not only caters to vegans and animal rights activists, but is also to those with ADHD, gluten allergies along with soy and lactose allergies.

I was curious about the company and wanted to try their products.The miso soup is interesting  and easy to make. It's combining the miso with water and then adding a mix of dried soy and greens. The soy bits were very silky and creamy and they were  a nice foil to the briny saltiness of the miso. I think I will try the seaweed variety made with wakame seaweed next. I also have the Golden Gravy mix which will go well with seitan slices and mashed potatoes. Edward & Sons has a good variety of macaroni and cheese mixes and they're definitely on my radar.The Alfredo Mac made with brown rice elbow macaroni will be the one to try. They also make gluten free cake cones - my favorite  - and I decided to give these, too, a try.I used the richly decadent Talenti brand of ice cream - coffee chocolate chip to fill it. I like their gluten free cones better than the regular ones. They are crisper than the gluten ones and best of all the bottoms don't become soggy once the ice cream drips down,

This holiday season  - look to Edward & Sons for all your holiday cooking and baking needs. You can create a delicious and healthy meal and dessert with these good for you products. There's no need to scrimp on flavor,

Gathering And GIving

One of the hallmarks of Southern cooking is feeding others, and providing them with comfort. A new cookbook emphasizes this with a variety of sweet and savory recipes. It's perfect for the cooks who love to cook and give.

This great cookbook is Love, Welcome, Serve- Recipes That Gather And Give (The Hachette Book  Group 2017) written by Amy Nelson Hannon, the owner of Euna Mae's Kitchen Shop and   food blogger. She is a Southerner, straight from the heart of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas and that homey hospitality shines in her recipes. There's even a section at the back of the book that tells home chefs what recipes gather people together and which ones give. Since Ms. Hannon is deeply religious and a preacher's wife, every section begins with a quote from Brilliant Saverin to Mother Teresa about opening up one's home to others/ The book opens up with a parsing out of kitchen ingredients, and true to her Southern roots, recommends using Hellman's mayonnaise along with full fat ingredients. Other recommendations include using richly flavored Vietnamese cinnamon, freshly squeezed lemon juice and the more expensive Neilsen-Massey vanilla extract.There is a handy must have list of equipment that every home chef must have as well as what foodstuffs should be in the fridge, freezer and pantry.

The recipes themselves are cozy, ribsticking ones.The book is divided into different sections from Bites That Welcome To Meats, Mains And Hearty Stews and finishes with For The Love Of Sweets. This is a Southern cookbook so there's a lot of cream cheese , butter and sweet tea used. Still, the book has a huge swath of Mexican and Italian dishes too.There are also regional ones such as Texas Firecracker a marinated Saltine, zinged up with red pepper flakes and garlic.She also gives a tasty pulled pork recipe, loaded with spices, perfect for a Saturday night get together with friends.Her Easy Mozzarella And Meatball Bake is kind of lasagna minus the pasta and would be a great weeknight meal. The sides cover everything from Roasted Honey Balsamic Brussels Sprouts to bacon and brown sugar collards. Southern baking is also represented. Home bakers will love Ms. Hannon's biscuits as well as her scratch pie dough recipes.Another plus of the book is that it has recipes for homemade chicken stock,tomato sauce, whipped cream and even hard shell chocolate sauce.

Love, Welcome, Serve, Recipes That Gather And Give is the perfect holiday gift for the home chef  and baker that open their kitchens.it has yummy recipes that can feed a whole table of guests or as a comfort to those in need. it shows that love not only comes from

Your Holiday Baking Guide

It's that time of year when home bakers start creating all those holiday goodies.A successful bake relies on a well stocked kitchen. Get the arsenal ready now. The end result is stress free prep, without any worries.

Before you even assess your ingredients, take a look at your cookie sheets and baking pans. Sometimes rust sets in  which means only one thing -toss.The same principle applies to cookie sheets and pie plates. Splurge and give yourself the early holiday present of a new bake set. Stores such as K-Mart, Target and Wal Mart have great sales on them right now so it pays to replace the old set. The same goes for whisks and rolling pins too,. along with both plastic and metal cookie cutters.Another pre-baking must is checking your hand mixer and blender to make sure they're up to snuff.If not, then take advantage of the holiday sales and buy a new one.If you're thinking of making candy invest in a good candy thermometer.This will help more in registering the right temperature as opposed to the old fashioned way of dropping the mixture into ice cold water to determine its' stage.Cake icers can also crack so check to see if yours still works. If you're planning on creating elaborately decorated cakes and cupcakes, you may want to get more icing nozzles . These will help in fine tuning the decorating with different squiggles and swirls.

Basic ingredients also have to be scrutinized. Luckily granulated sugar can last indefinitely. Brown sugar doesn't and after two years can get hard, sticky, and lumpy.Replace your flour if its' been in the pantry for more than seven or eight months.Anything baked with it will have a stale taste. Whole wheat lasts even less. If you;ve had it more than six months toss. Keep the vanilla extract. it's good for four years. The same for your cocoa powder - it lasts  two years before going stale.If you have to go shopping for new ingredients, make a list beforehand. Ask yourself if you want to make a holiday treat from scratch or from a mix.You can stock up on mixes  if you're pressed for time. The same goes for ready made icings too,.Also stock up on sticks of butter and margarine because you'll be using these the most. Get a five pound bag of flour instead of the usual two pound bag. (remember extra flour will come in handy for thickening sauces too ).It pays also to get bags of almonds ,walnuts and pecans for both baked goods and candy. Don't forget the holiday themed decorations like red and green  sprinkled and metallic sanding sugars.

The best treats come from a well prepped kitchen. Makes sure yours is ready for the onslaught of holiday baking.Stock your arsenal now so you don;t have to run out later.

Vegan For The Holidays

One of the most challenging aspects of a home chef''s holiday menu planning is cooking for vegans and vegetarians. Is it possible to create delicious and fun meals without seafood or beef? Can there be tasty holiday cookies and treats without the enhancement of butter and cream? Yes! There's a brand new cookbook that can help to navigate a meatless season.

The Vegan Holiday Cookbook (Robert Rose Publishers 2017) was written by Marie LaForet, a well known French vegetarian  and creator of the blog Vegetal-100. She is also a Parisian and that means elegant dishes and afters that would go well at any time of the year. Her book 's introduction indicates that she is an animal rights advocate along with being concerned about diet and health.She also lists the gluten free and adaptable recipes so that sensitive eaters won't have to suffer.. Mme LaForet also groups the recipes into different categories, from traditional to light and sophisticated, including buffet and last minute.This book is perfect for any vegan novice , looking to create that perfect at home gathering Another plus is that she concludes with home made gift section.It is easy to copy her various butters using vegan margarine and such spices as dill and black pepper for one and another one loaded with sun dried tomatoes, rosemary and smoked paprika,There's also recipes for flavored salts such as garlic and herb and lemon  and spice. Home bakers would appreciate a pretty jar filled with cinnamon and vanilla sugar.

The recipes themselves are just as flawless.Imagine a party graced with her vegan caviar (!) and squash truffles. The first is made with flaked seaweed sasoning to give it that briny,salty flavor. Mme. LaForet uses this a lot in creating faux seafood dishes such as tofu gravlax canapes and fisherman rillettes. She is big on puff pastry and uses it to create chestnut vol-au-vents and puff pastry stars, ripe with chestnut and squash. Main dishes are a vegan's dream Try the porcini mushroom risotto, chock full of button and porcini mushrooms.A great opener for a Christmas lunch could be the ravioli in flavored broth that's been zinged up with the fiery Chinese five spice powder.A tree trimming or Hanukah  party can be made cozier with the tasty seitan pot pies filled with meaty cubes of seitan -or a meat like wheat gluten.Another Hanukah treat would be the potato pancakes loaded with kohlrabi. The sides are simple but classy. Her Hassleback potatoes and roasted beets would be the right match for her paupiettes or her spin on a vegan Beef Wellington. The book ends with sweets and cocktails. Mme, LaForet has a dairy free panna cotta made with vegan creme fraiche and chestnut puree. Every holiday cookbook has cookie recipes and she gives us shortbread and the sweetly spicy Pepperkakor. Drinks are made with ginger and hibiscus and orange cranberry for some festive sipping.

The Vegan  Holiday  Cookbook is the go to Bible for vegan and vegetarian home chefs. They can create elegant hors d'ouevres, main meals and desserts without sacrificing taste. Buy it today and start creating a cruelty free menus for the holidays ahead.