The Empire That Is Gaines

Almost everyone knows Chip and Joanna Gaines.They are the mavericks and mavens behind an empire that covers all aspects of home life. They have furnishings, and design , restaurants and cookbooks. They have made a kingdom out of the ordinary and a following that is legendary. Yet a good portion of the population can relate to them. Their advice , especially when it comes to cooking, is , homey and comforting - just what we need right now.

Julia Moskin, chief writer for the New York Times Food section, explored this American phenomena. For those who love HGTV and home remodeling shows, Chip and Joanna are part of their lives. The couple started out renovating homes on their seven year old show "Fixer Upper", then expanded their Magnolia brand to include everything from cookbooks to house paints. They also have a magazine along with a brand at Target (which does have some nice items- perfect for you or gift giving) that covers a gamut of household needs. They also expanded their food and cooking to cool bakery called Silos built in what else - a silo.Their other restaurant, Magnolia Table features classic Texas farmhouse fare as well as trendy new ideas such as avocado toast.. The last caused a debate between the usually copacetic couple. He thought it was too hip, she thought it would fit in perfectly. It did. Magnolia has a following with a menu fans and food lovers can relate to. There are traditional bacon and biscuit breakfasts alongside freshly squeezed juice blends.

Joanna Gaines also has an interesting background. Her mother is Korean while her father is Lebanese American. The couple met when her father was stationed in South Korea in 1969. They married in Las Vegas in 1972 and settled in Wichita, Kansas where Ms Gaines was born. Her mother Nan, who was 19 when she moved here didn't know much about cooking , even her own kind, and began cooking with ground beef. There was beef Stroganoff and meat sauce. It was only after her mother came did Ms. Gaines finally eat bulgoki and homemade seaweed soup. She tried mandoo, kimchi dumplings when she lived in New York City. She enjoyed being there, working at CBS and sharing food with Korean friends. Yet she wanted to cook the dishes her childhood friends ate. She perfected the recipe s for chocolate chip cookies (which you can buy at Silo) and buttermilk biscuits, Her cookbooks are not as aspirational as they are inspirational. Her recipes in the article are homey  - perfect for now. There are scratch brownies with a peanut butter and marshmallow fudge icing along with sour cream enchiladas. A tasty bake is her kale and bacon hash brown casserole that has both fresh ingredients - kale - and frozen  - hash browns. All of her recipe books have good homey recipes - great for the whole family cooking and eating together.

Chip and Joanna Gaines have an empire. Yet that empire is relateable , with cookbooks that feature comforting and rib sticking dishes. They're what we need right now, both the Gainses and their idea of a cozy home and kitchen.

The Joy Of Portabella Mushrooms

There is a threat of meat shortages. May steak lovers are worried about that , afraid they may not get a juicy bite. However they can go the vegan steak route. Try portabella mushrooms. They're the perfect sub in and much more humane alternative to a T-bone.

I recently discovered how delicious air fried portabella mushrooms are. In fact, I'm now thoroughly addicted to them.I  don't know why it took me almost a year and a half to discover that they and my air fryer are a perfect match. Not only that , they're easy to prepare and cook up.I was kind of leery about washing them and the amount of dirt that would come out of them. That was wrongful thinking. Not much sand or grit comes out of them and washing them again is simple. It's taking a paper towel and wetting it.Wring it out thoroughly and then gently clean the mushroom top or cap. Some of the "skin" will rub off, Not to worry : this will happen. Then turn the mushroom over and clean the gills, those divisions under the cap. You can run warm water on them to get rid of anything between them. Again gently rub the gills clean. Use a fresh wet paper towel  for each one. You can then pat them dry again with a new paper towel. I usually leave mine  wet. The better to absorb the spices and oil.

You can leave the mushrooms plain however spicing and flavoring adds to them. I usually first brush both sides with olive oil.It's then a liberal sprinkle of both onion and garlic powder and a sprinkle of dried oregano. A light pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper can be added too. It's then air frying them on one side for eight minutes at 370 degrees F. After the first eight minutes, flip them over and air fry for another eight minutes at 370 degrees F. If you 're cooking a bigger portabella, then cook at 400 degrees F. Another idea is to stuff them with a variety of different ingredients. One recipe calls for cream cheese, frozen spinach and bacon along with Panko breadcrumbs and sliced cherry tomatoes. Keep in mind that these are baked and not air fried. They're  placed on a grease cookie sheet and put into a 400 degree F oven for ten minutes. A lusher version subs in crab meat for the bacon. You can also slice the mushrooms and put them in tacos and burritos for a fun bite.

Portabella mushrooms are the new steaks. They are delicious air fried  or stuffed, served with spices or crabmeat. Try them and be addicted to their delicious flavor and meatiness.

There's Always Online Stores

It's a pain and a chore to go grocery shopping these days. There's shortages galore and you have to be savvy when a particular store stocks up. If worse comes to worse  there is online shopping and the various stores that can offer salvation.

One of the best places is Amazon. There has been some negative criticism regarding how the company treats their workers during this time and the heavy amount of  work  allotted to them. Yet it has a wide array of foodstuffs and items for any home chef and kitchen.I have been buying kitchen wares from them for years. The company has a very good selection of silicon bakeware .There's a wide variety of that , from loaf pans to smaller ones for decorative cakes and candies.  The company is also great for appliances. Air fryers are big and a godsend. Amazon has a wide assortment of different brands and they have their choices as to what's the best. You can always something that suits your needs. The same goes for toaster ovens - which they have many , from simple ones to ones with convection ovens included. If you want fancier gadgets like sous vides and immersion blenders, them Amazon, is the place to go for them. (but you can  also go to Target and Wal-mart too)  Another plus about Amazon is that they do have a wide variety of hard to find and unusual foods. I recently bought Berbere spice there, something I know I couldn't get in my local grocery store. I've also bought clotted cream from them, something I can only get at British specialty stores in Manhattan.

There are other places to go to for specific foods. The Carmel Honey Company is one of my favorites. I buy their wildflower honey for my tomato sauce and chili (yes, I use it for those. It's better than sugar). it was started by teenager Jake who wrote about honey bees for a school project. He became so involved that he started his own honey company  - lucky for us. It's a great source of natural honeys that can be used for everything from sauces (yes again) to cakes and muffins.  For vegan, Vegan Essentials has all sorts of foodstuffs from faux seafood to Beyond Burger if you can't get those at your local supermarket. The company also has Miyoko's  vegan cheeses and butters. These taste like the real thing and the website has a variety of different cheeses like scallion flavored cream cheese and cultured butter. It's hard to get any fancy loaves for family celebrations but Vegan Essentials does have tofu loaves like Field Roast squash stuffed tofu.  Flour is supposed to be up next when it comes to shortages. Not to worry. King Arthur has a wide variety of different flours (along with bakeware and baking gadgets). They also sell gluten free flours which is great for those with celiac disease.  Another good site for flours is Bob's Red Mill which also has nut flours as well along with all natural sugars.

If you can't find it in your local store, then go on line. It's an easy way to shop with out all the worry and the fretting.It';s just point, click and buy without the hassle.

Missing My Take Out Food

After their lockdown was lifted New Zealanders were asked what they missed the most. Many said McDonalds's, namely the Chicken McNuggets and malteds. That's true . We're all missing our fast foods. Yet there is take out. We can still support our favorite eateries and the people working in them.

Quarantines are being lifted  slowly  but surely throughout the country and the world. That means you can return to your favorite chains and mom and pop restaurants. Yet, as here in New Jersey our ban will be lifted in less than two weeks. There's still no eating in restaurants or mall food courts. However we  can still order out from our favorite places. Why not? If you're really craving burgers and fries then head to your local McDonald's or Wendy's. Some places only have drive through with the indoor counter and seating area closed. if that's the case then bring the food home.  Some experts recommend taking the food out of the paper bags and Styrofoam containers them microwaving it for thirty seconds. However there are some that say food containers are safe, especially the plastic containers and cups. It's safe  to eat in your car (although always keep a bottle of hand sanitizer and paper towel in your car for a quick wipe down). It's really the staff that has to be watched with a wary eye. Call and speak to the manager and ask if the employees have been sick lately and what are they doing to monitor their employees health.

What about the larger restaurants? You can still order take out and curbside at such places as Texas Roadhouse and B.J.'s Roadhouse. Family owned ones such as Bahr's in the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey will bring a tray with your food and drink to your car.  They still give you their great dinners of steamed lobster or sauerbraten along with a side and favorite cocktail. It's like eating inside. You can also get takeout to bring home  also from them. Diners can also give you those home cooked meals too. If you're craving really well made French toast or chicken salad sandwich then head to your favorite one. It's also a boost to the diners that had to scale back their twenty-four hour around the clock hours to only three or four a day. More orders mean more work and that could bring back sous chefs and assistant cooks now on furlough. What about the meat shortages that are hitting some parts of the US? Order your favorites when you can . Prices for burgers and chicken dishes may go up at national chains like Burger King and Checkers.  You could also switch to vegan alternatives found at Dunkin Donuts and Burger King. Beyond Burger is at such chains as Hardee's and Carl Jr's as well at Subway's.

Fast foods and restaurant fare from our places are sorely missed right now. Yet you can still get the dishes and drinks that make you happy. Take out today. Support your local eatery. Support the workers there too,.

The Comeback Of Community Cookbooks

We have so many cookbooks these days. There are the  glossy , almost coffee table books, and celebrity ones , more full of anecdotes than recipes. Yet there is one, one full of recipes and love that is making a big comeback this quarantine. It's the community cookbook. This classic is returning, much to the delight of home chefs all over.

Priya Krishna, regular contributor  to the New York Times Food section and author of the Indian cookbook Indian-ish wrote this in The NY Times Food section
 on Wednesday. It seems that more and more coworkers are exchanging recipes and this is an easy way to do it.The idea is far from new. In fact it goes back to 1864 in this country when Maria J. Moss. created "A Poetical Cookbook" to raise money for injured Union soldiers during the Civil War. Later in the century suffragettes produced cookbooks to spread their message. Since then, churches,libraries and local governments have relied on community cookbooks to raise money and share recipes. In recent years  the format grew less popular as platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become immensely popular. They have encouraged home chefs to use them, as well as creating  glossy magazine ready pictures of their culinary creations. Even  New York Times Cooking hosts large activities on both. However that's all changing.

For the pediatric residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston , it started in mid-March. They were isolated at home, waiting to be called as back up. One of the Cyrelle Fermin, started posting recipes to the residents' WhatsApp group, turning that into a spreadsheet where about twenty of her coworkers submitted recipes along with pictures of themselves making them. Then there is the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving Texas which usually brings together one thousand Muslims  is creating a similar cookbook. Nye Armstrong , the mosque's creative director has asked members to email recipes and photos so she can design a digital and print cookbook. Some cookbooks have drawn in strangers. Alicia Cohn started sending a culinary newsletter to friends. Soon friends of friends were signing up for it which lead to the Quarantine Recipe Club. Strangers inundated her with recipes.  Many of these books are filled with comfort food, such as the one created by the Seattle Ladies Choir. The members have such diverse backgrounds, from Indian to Italian to Texan. The recipes reflect that. One neat idea is a family community cookbook.Justine Santa Cruz has her Filipino family contribute their favorite ones. Some cookbooks like Bone Apple Tea have a homey laid back vibe..

Creating a community cookbook within your community of friends, colleagues, family or parent groups can be a fun past time. It's also a great way to connect. Share memorable recipes that everyone can enjoy years later.

Invite To A Big Lasagna Party

We all need a big get together and party right now.Luckily there is just that thanks, to regular New York Times Food contributor, Samin Nosrat, She is hosting a gathering this Sunday 7 PM Eastern standard TIme. on Instagram. Come one, come all.

Chef Nosrat is not new to dinner parties and gatherings. Since her college days she has thrown together meals that ranged from paellas cooked on a rusted fire pit in a yard to churning out gallons of ice cream in her apartment. She has thrown parties in abandoned airplane hangars and deserted beaches and sprawling farms. Then there were the  get togethers at Tartine, the famed San Francisco eatery, where their corner bakery was set up to feed the restaurant's bakers. The group enjoyed Chef Nosrat's shrimp boils, brisket and latkes. She baked twelve layer lasagnas and billowy  souffles they all enjoyed. Now
 Chef Nosrat is coming into our homes as we go into her Southern Californian one.Her dish of choosing? An old fashioned lasagna, perfect with a bottle of red wine. For some of you novice chefs out there freaking out right now, don't worry. You can make your own creation, whether it's spaghetti and meatballs or just a sandwich. Just so long as you're there. That's what matters.

Is Chef Nosrat's recipe an easy one? It's a classic one, familiar to those who have grown up with Southern Italian recipes and big Sunday pasta dinners. The filling is ricotta along with fresh or even frozen spinach. She suggests using string cheese - fun - if you don't have Provolone or mozzarella handy. There's also grated Parmesan Asiago or Grano Padano. You can use dried Italian seasoning or fresh basil along with fresh Italian parsley and chives. There is the Bechamel sauce, an easy mix that can also go over chicken or fish. Again it's just flour, butter, milk and nutmeg mixed together. The tomato sauce can be your favorite jarred one or the one from the NY Times Simple Tomato sauce located in NYT Cooking. If you're really ambitious make the sheets of lasagna noodles yourself (again the recipe is on the NYT Cooking site). There's more cheese added. from Grano Padano to string. Assembling it may be labor intensive however if your family is joining you, then employ them to help. As for the wine, Chef Nosrat suggests Chianti or a barbera from Piemonte. The kids can have a celebratory soda or chocolate milk.

Mark  this Sunday at seven as a dinner date. Make Chef Nosrat's lush and classic homemade lasagna or not. Just be there to enjoy good food and good talk.

My Ethiopian Stew Adventure

Ethiopian food has been on my radar for a long time. I was all set to try it at an Ethiopian restaurant  in Montclair North Jersey. Unfortunately quarantine happened and that idea was shut down. I recently found a lentil rich Ethiopian stew on this website Immaculate Bites. I decided to give it a shot.

Unfortunately, since this is quarantine, I had to make do with what was out there. I could not find ANY lentils at my local Stop & Shop. I decided to use kidney beans and pinto beans. They won't have the silky taste of lentils but they will add a robustness to it.

I also used a yellow onion and fresh vine ripe tomatoes. The last isn't included but I felt they would add more flavor.

It also requires oil and spiced butter. I used olive oil, richer in taste and Country Crock. Spiced butter is butter mixed with Berbere spices which I will have the second time I make it.

The onions and tomatoes were roughly diced and added as were the beans. The recipe also calls for two teaspoons of minced garlic. I used two cloves, sliced.

I feel it adds more flavor than the minced.

There are also the spices. I didn't have the Berbere spice mix so I created my own, more or less according to the recipe.

As you can see , there's crushed red pepper for bite along with cumin,turmeric and curry powder. The recipe called for smoked paprika, I didn't have that or ginger for that matter. I used a heaping tablespoon or two of Pereg's Spanish paprika.

Also added to the mix were three cups of vegetable broth (I used Knorr's) cooked quickly in the microwave.

This is the beans added.

I realized it needed the tomato paste required.It was too soupy  without it.

I cooked it for half an hour and it came out perfectly. The texture was satiny and the taste was a well blended mix of tomatoes , onions and spices .I liked it a lot and served with with brown rice. I would have liked to have served it with the Ethiopian bread, injera. Another recipe I have to try.

Will I make this again? Most definitely and with lentils and ginger for a more authentic taste. I like this and will serve it again.It's a great week night dish that easily translates into leftovers. I can't wait to try more Ethiopian dishes!