Kitchen Clean

One of the most annoying aspects of a kitchen is it's forever dirty and messy. Stoves get used every day as do plates . However thanks to old fashioned cleaning methods and new fangled gadgets, the most used room in the house can always be sparkling and bright.

Everybody has to do dishes - whether by hand or by dishwasher.  It helps if you have a dish detergent that gets rid of grease and sauces along with leaving a gleaming finish. For dishwashers many opt for Cascade ,  while others are looking into more natural types such as Seventh Generation.The last has no dyes or fragrances, perfect for those who have allergies. For those who aren't as lucky to have a dishwasher, there's Dawn dish soap. This is a favorite of mine (and yes, I still wash  dishes by hand.I have the old fashioned notion that hand washed dishes and pans are somewhat cleaner) I like the way it thoroughly rids surfaces from chocolate to  tomato sauce.It's also gentle on skin which is important during these raw winter days.It cuts down on chapped skin, Dawn is so mild that it's been used to clean birds that have been unfortunately victims of oil spills Another plus is that it comes in a wide variety of scents, from lavender to a refreshing waterfall scent.For those who do their own manicures, wash hands in Dawn before putting on  nail  polish. It gets rid of any  body oils and makes the color stay on longer.

Vinegar is a time honored classic , used for more than one hundred years. It's is wonderful on windows, cutting through soot and dirt.White distilled vinegar can get rid of any stain  - no matter how greasy or grungy. The insanely fun gadget Angry Mama below) uses it to clean the interior of

 the microwave. I bought her at What On Earth, a neat catalog company that specializes in the fun and the fantastic. Vinegar and water are poured into her body. and then heated for seven minutes in the microwave. This produces a potent steam that comes out of the holes in her head.From there the moisture is wiped away, along with grease or food particles with a paper towel. The vinegar also deodorizes the microwave, taking away any lingering odors. Let the liquid cool and it becomes an excellent cleaner for the stove top.

It pays to have a clean kitchen. There's nothing more disgusting than a grungy one,. Luckily there are so many soap, cleanserss and gadgets that can help.

Impromptu Cuisine

Inspiration is all around if you're a home chef. A bag of frozen veggies could turn into a salad. Leftovers can be elevated to a tasty meal.It just takes  creativity and the willingness to try to make a delicious meal.

This happened to me tonight.It was just going to be a simple cup of soup for a Friday night. However the leftover soy chicken strips from the other night looked too beckoning. I decided to crisp them up in margarine with a heady dash of Sylvia's lemon pepper seasoning.This is a great seasoning to have around.It elevates the real thing and the faux poule too with a rich ,lemony flavor and a hint of salt.The flavoring would be good on barbecued chicken too. What goes with lemon chicken?  Any kind of veggie.I opened my freezer to find Stop & Shop's frozen broccoli. I had been saving the package for a broccoli salad but saw it and thought why not make it now. These are steamed florets so they needed some oomph.All it took was a toss in olive oil flavored with minced garlic. It turned into the perfect hot salad, amped up by a good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. What started out as a blah idea for a Friday supper turned into something much better and much tastier.I just looked into the fridge, assessed what was there and let creativity take over.. It's amazing how the fridge can act as a canvas.

Anyone can create a meal like this.Leftover London Broil can be chopped up and added to an already mixed salad to make it more substantial. Add a mushroom gravy to the slices and serve over rice for another hearty meal. Chicken can be repurposed into a yummy Mexican dish with the help of a home made mole sauce.I like the idea of frying it up into crispy pieces and flavored with spices.I could have used a mix of rosemary and garlic too for a Mediterranean vibe. Sliced grape tomatoes would have been added for color and kick.Tomatoes are another ingredient in creating an impromptu meal. Slice them and then saute them in a mix of butter, olive oil, and garlic.Cover with breadcrumbs and more minced garlic and you have the mouth watering tomatoes Provencale.They are also good in a lunchtime pain bagnat,, the Southern French sandwich.This could be an impromptu meal , because besides tomatoes, it also has hard boiled eggs, any veggies and tuna stuffed into an oiled loaf of French bread.If you don't have tuna, sub in anchovies.Serve with a good red wine for a truly Gallic feel and end the meal with grapes.

Impromptu cooking is a fun way of testing a home chef's creativity. It makes you assess what you have and  the possibilities. It just takes a spark of creativity to make a meal with what you already have in the kitchen and the fridge.

One Ingredient , Two Recipes

One of the best aspects of any food is its' versatility. It's a bonus if a home chef can prepare it a
variety of ways. One day it can be a roast, another day ot can be used in a salad. Salmon is this ingredient..It can be prepared in a plethora of different recipes with different ingredients each time.

Salmon was the subject of a new series by master chef and baker, Yotam Ottolenghi for yesterday's New York Times Food section. Its' theme is taking one ingredient and preparing two ways. One is a quick one that can be whipped up in a trice while the other is  a more involved recipe, reserved for speecial occasions and holidays/The first installment is about salmon and Chef Ottolenghi goes to the tips of Europe. One is from  Norway, the other from Sicily.The first is a laxpudding, a homey mix of salmon ,cooked with potatoes and dill. This is the more elaborate recipe that also has saffron and anchovies along with five egg yolks (!) and half a cup of heavy cream.It's an elaborate recipe that uses up a pound of  skinless salmon fillets and five ounces of thinly cold smoked salmon. A custard has to be  made using the yolks and cream along with cornstarch ,lemon zest and almost two cups of milk,.The spinach is fried with basil as the potatoes are oven baked on a parchment paper lined pan.The two salmons are also mixed together The gratin is then assembled by layering all these ingredients ,starting with the potatoes followed by the spinach and then the fish. The egg custard is poured on top of this and baked for 25 to 30 minutes. A sauce of fried capers is then drizzled over the finished bake.\

The other salmon recipe is an easy cook. It's a quick pan seared fillet and a cooked relish  made with typical Sicilian ingredients of currents, olives and pine nuts. Pan searing it is the best way to appreciate the salmon' flavor. The recipe starts with soaking the currents for twenty minutes and then setting them aside. its then onto the salmon. Rub the fillets with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and a good grind of fresh pepper. leave it to marinate while making the relish. Heat half a cup of olive oil and fry the celery and pine nuts in it.Turn off the heat to avoid burning and add the capers and their brine. Also add a generous pinch of saffron ,its' water and  olives. The salmon fillets should be heated in a tablespoon of olive oil over a medium high heat until the oil starts to shimmer. . This means it should be cooked right before the oil starts to smoke. The salmon is placed skin down in the pan and fried until the skin is crisp. Flip and then repeat on the other side. divide the fish onto four plates and  serve with the warm relish spooned on top. Celery leaves can be scattered on top for decoration.

These recipes highlight  salmon prepared two different ways.. The gratin would be a perfect meal for guests or even for a dinner party. The pan seared one can be used as an easy week ay meal after a hard day'of work . Both are perfect in bringing out the fish's sweet brininess and delicate flavor.

An Alaskan Chef's Dilemma

Imagine not being able to buy certain veggies and fruits during the winter. Menus would change. Cooks would have to come up with substitutions or worse - just cross out certain dishes. It's a problem right now in Alaska, They're going through an annual food drought right now.

Julia O'Malley, an Alaskan herself, wrote this informative piece in today's New York Times Food section.Ms O'Malley is also the creator of a blog centering on life in the country's most northernmost state where she provides recipes and tips.As she knows,fresh fruit and vegetables are rare . Even a tomato is a rarity . Unlike grocery stores in the Lower 48, Alaskan stores are not restocked on a daily basis There's no nearby greenhouses or even an app to help them.They have to wait til the summer with days that last well into the night. Farmers markets then appear and explode with zucchini the size of small dogs and a wide variety of greens.It's a bountiful time where recipes call for fresh produce and meals have the added flavor of a garden. Right now, Alaskans are living off last year's harvest of gnarled carrots and dry skinned beets. This may be a thing of the past thanks to indoor farming happening on the frozen tundras.Alaska Natural Organics and Vertical Harvest Hydroponics are bringing fruits and vegetables to chefs and home chefs during the long cold winters.

It still isn't easy. Until the farms start mass producing Alaskan home chefs, especially, will be challenged. Many grocery stores still get their products by sea, shipped from Seattle.after it's traveled from Mexico and California. It spends about a week in a container on a boat. The end product is not palatable. Tomatoes are not an appealing red, but rather pinkish and watery  Avocados are hard on the outside but rotten on the inside. Prewashed lettuces don't have a bright ,springy aroma, they smell like decay. Fruits and vegetables come only three times a week to the chain grocery , Fred Meyer.There are problems of keeping foods fresh while trying to keep their costs down. Delays are regular occurrences. Some chefs are lucky in the sense that they  know a "peach guy" someone who cana get them fresh fruit at seventy dollars a pop. Some bring back fruit and veggies from trips.Many such as blogster and cook, Kim Sunee, make do with what they have. The answer is creativity. Use what you have in new recipes that make the most of the limited ingredients.Many other chefs are following this, Carlyle Watt of the Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop  in Anchorage knows this all too well. He masters what's left in the root cellar like blackening carrots  and finding the perfect potato.

Give Alaskan chefs credit . They can take what they have and turn it into an exciting and delicious dish. It's hard work but the results are worth it.

Just A Bowl Of

One of the easiest meals is one involving a bowl and a slew of good for you ingredients. It's not only an easy lunch or dinner to whip up but also a nutritious one.it can be made fresh or with ingredients. Another plus is that even novice chefs can create something delicious and complex.

Bowl meals are not new. Most of Asia have some form of this.One of the most famous and one that's gaining speed here in the States is bibimbap. It's a mix of fresh stir fried veggies and rice,topped with a fried egg. what is good with this is that it can be customized. Cabbage lovers can add both savoy and bok choy . Those who enjoy crunch can add some raw peppers and carrots. Meat lovers can tip it in their favor with extra chicken, beef, or pork, while veggie lovers can add extra greens such as kale and fiddlehead ferns,Bibimbop also gets some zing from Korean hot pepper paste or gochuchang. Rice is the base ,of this melding the flavors all together while being the grain requirement. For the dish, the veggies should be julienned however if you want to chop everything in bigger chunks you can. The same idea for the gochuchang. If it's too fiery then sub in soy sauce. It's still make the dish flavorful but won't have that mouth numbing bite. You can also get rid of the eggs as well and sub in rice noodles for the rice.

For a simpler bowl you can't get much simpler than polenta mixed with butter and Parmesan cheese. It's tasty, and filling, an easy hot meal for after a hard day's work. Again it can be varied. Sliced sausage can be added along with grape tomatoes and mushrooms.Shrimp goes surprisingly well with the grain and you can easily add it to cooked polenta. Chicken is another meat that can give the corn meal a boost.Even  left over polenta can be transformed into a tasty bowl , being reheated in the microwave with tomatoes, butter and/or cheese.An American spin on it is a grits bowl. This can even be made for breakfast with the addition of cheddar and butter. Like bibimbap, it can be topped with fried eggs for more protein.Breakfast sausage or bacon can also be tossed in. A grits bowl is also a good lunch or dinner bowl. Chicken and gravy could also work with it,. One of the simplest bowls to make is just taking plain white rice, topping it with beans and then build on it with meats, tofu and/or veggies. Black beans in sauce , topped with shredded cheese is  a tasty dinner. Stir fried steak and veggies , soaked in soy sauce would be a great topper for any wild rice variety.

A bowl meal is a filling one. It's also fun because favorite ingredients are added to create something unique. It's a chance to get creative with a simple container and just grains, proteins and veggies.

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Presidential Influences

Do our leaders influence the way we eat? Have they always? The answer is probably yes. US presidents and their First Ladies give us ideas and inspiration about cooking and eating. Many home chefs have imitated and copied cooking styles and recipes from the White House.

Most of our presidents had simple tastes. George Washington was a man of his times, preferring a dinner of mutton washed down with Madeira wine. Did that influence his countrymen? Maybe. Maybe not. Many wealthy landowners enjoyed what he did. There was roast beef and ale along with tables laden with cakes, pies and early forms of cookies. Perhaps some housewives imitated Martha Washington who seemed to love baking, She was known for her Great Cake, a brandy and Madeira soaked fruit cake topped with a rich fondant icing. Surely she also created steamed fig puddings, a nod towards her and her husband's English heritage. It was Thomas Jefferson who made a big impact on the way wealthy 18th Century Americans ate. The third president was a gourmet and world traveler. The upper classes got to enjoy ice cream as it became the dessert of the moment.It could have been served with waffles, a treat Jefferson discovered  on a trip to Brussels where he bought a waffle iron to take home.His guests probably swooned over the Parmesan he brought back from Rozzano Italy.Jefferson also loved pasta and also had a pasta machine. Dinner guests may have even brought home  homemade spaghetti and linguine to enjoy and share.

Dolley Madison, James Madison's wife was also another culinary force in the White House. She ,more than her husband, James was known for her layer cake with caramel icing. It was probably the talk of D.C. with many a home chef trying her hand at this new idea. Most presidents until the Gilded Age were more influenced by fellow Americans. Teddy Roosevelt may have been a Rough Rider but he was from a family that ate elegantly simple  meals . It was a time for rich sauces and expensive cuts of meat.He was one of the first presidents that ate fried chicken and  snacked on cookies. He enjoyed bacon for breakfast - a taste that definitely had an impact on American breakfasts.As the Twentieth Century progressed, the century itself influenced the way the White House ate. The Great Depression of the Thirties brought about a frugality to the White House kitchen, Eleanor Roosevelt made sure American favorites such as doughnuts and bread pudding were served during the spartan times.. Jackie Kennedy reintroduced French cuisine which many home chefs snapped up, thanks to her and Julia Child. The last influential presidential couple were Barack and Michelle Obama. They both introduced healthy but delicious eating to Americans and made us fall in love with .veggies again.

Presidents and Americans have influenced each other's eating habits for two  and a half centuries.Is there an impact? Probably yes, depending on the president.

When The Home Chef's Away

It’s always wonderful when a home chef gets to go away and have a holiday. However what happens to the family left behind? Do they try to cook for themselves or live on fast food? The best bet is leaving care packages for them.

Chili is one of those make and freeze foods. It’s easy to whip up whether on the stove top or in the crockpot. Store in Tupperware or plastic containers, Reheat with just a tablespoon or two of water to thin it out. Sometimes chili can get thick . Zing it up a bit with some tortilla chips or cornbread squares. Mole sauce , another Mexican treat can also be made and then stored for another day. What’s great about mole is that you can pair it with grocery store rotisserie chicken for an easy and delicious meal. Tomato sauce is another excellent recipe to make for the family. If you;’re busy packing, then just use the crockpot to make it. It’s easier and the result is a rich mellow sauce, perfect for pasta or gnocchi. Stock up on a variety of pasta too. The kids can have a choice of rotelli , spaghetti or ravioli to pair with it, You could even vary the sauces, Have a container of the meaty Bolognese and the vegan marinara.

Casseroles are also easily whipped up and frozen. Eggplant parmesan is a hearty dinner , liked by everyone.It’s just breading and frying eggplant slices and then layering them alternately  with sauce and a blend of grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.A tasty dish, full of meat and veggies is ham, broccoli and potato casserole. It had the bonus of frozen French fries and cubed ham. It’s also dotted with florets which will please parents that the kids are eating their greens. Roll ups are easily freezable and reheated. They can be made up of such good for you  ingredients like spinach and cabbage. Imagine lasagna stuffed with baby spinach and cheese, easily created and easily popped into the freezer for later consumption. Cabbage rolls are a great way of  dosing the family with Vitamin C.Stuff it with turkey, onion and baby carrots. Tomato sauce takes away the meat’s dryness as well as giving it more flavor.

When the home chef’s away, the family will still eat well. Fill the fridge with tasty sauces and casseroles. They’ll be well appreciated .