Forget Sourdough Try These Breads

 For some reason sourdough bread was the hit of the lock down. Home bakers took to it like a duck to water. Yet there are so many other breads to try - from white to rye to whole wheat. These are just as delicious and even easier to whip up.

White bread always gets a bad wrap. It's probably because of the store bought processed kind which has the taste and texture of a kitchen sponge. However homemade white bread is an entirely different kind. It's soft and chewy, perfect on it's own with butter or jam or used for sandwiches. The ingredients are fairly straightforward - flour yeast, water, honey, salt and butter. some home bakers add a tiny bit of vinegar to keep the texture soft and the flavor not too sweet. As for flour, yes you can use regular white but some home bakers prefer bread flour which gives it a much more chewier bite. Keep in mind you can also make bread rolls too. These are fun to make and can be topped with an egg wash and poppy/sesame seeds. A variation is the baguette. The dough recipe is slightly different, with the omission of honey and butter. A few tip before making it. You can buy French bread loaf pans at good kitchen stores such as Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table. Another instrument to buy is a baker's  lame which looks like a toothbrush with a small razor at the end instead of a brush. This is used for creating those classic slashes and "rips" on the top of the bread. Ice  - yes ice is used to create that ultra crusty crust. Toss three to four cubes on the oven floor to create steam that will crisp up the loaf.

For those wanting a  healthier slice,  think whole wheat. King Arthur brand has the best wheat flour and it can be bought at any grocery store or super store like Wal-Mart. Most recipes call for honey(if you want to continue with the all natural vibe, then use organic honey) along with water, yeast and salt. Again like with white bread the dough can be sectioned off into rolls whether for dinner or just lunchtime sandwiches. Another dark bread that's easy to make - and even easier to eat is pumpernickel.Its' dark color comes from the blend of whole wheat flour and dark cocoa powder while the unique taste comes from unsulphured  molasses. These would be great baked into rolls and served with a hearty steak dinner or  beef stew. The most classic brown bread is rye. This is a blend of rye flour - again use King Arthur or arrowhead Mills brands for this along with butter and warm milk. Carraway seeds are added for the traditional anise flavor. It isn't done much but you can make rye rolls, which are perfect for ham or pastrami sandwiches.

Try new breads if you're tired of baking sourdough. Try something different with the same amount of flavor and crusty crust. It could be a baguette or a rye roll. Get creative and expand your bread repertoire.

Hearty Alpine Cuisine The Perfect Chill Chaser

 Mountain folk know how to eat. Alpine cuisine is hearty, flavorful and filling - perfect for these cold days ahead. It's embracing delicious dishes that can chase away the chill.

Everyone thinks that alpine cuisine just means Swiss food but it encompasses much more. There's also the food of the Northern Italian, French and Southern German alpine area as well. All the foods are rich with cheese and butter as well as with protein.It has to be this way because the inhabitants of these beautiful mountain regions need heavy foods to combat the brutal winters and freezing temps. Swiss cuisine is indicative of this. One recipe that's sure to win over an American crowd is hacktatschli smashed meatballs served with a creamy mushroom sauce. This is a favorite all over the country with Swiss school kids even though it has a glug of white wine added. There's a potato version kartoffel hatscchli which can be served with the sauce as well. From the canton Uri comes rispor or leek risotto rich with the winter veggie and topped with clouds of  the Swiss-Italian cheese sbrinz. This is the perfect dish for those frosty nights in with the family. Bakers will love spinatwahe or spinach quiche a mix of the green along with garlic, herbs and cream tucked into a buttery pie shell.

The Italian alpine regions of Piedmonte and Lombardy bring us rich rice or risotto dishes. Both are made with the chewy long grain arborio rice; the only difference being is that the Piedmontese use tomato sauce  for flavor while the Lombards use saffron. This a great and easy chill chaser to make  for a cold snowy night. Usually reserved for parties , the Piedmontese bagna calda is a tasty fun dinner for a family weekend in. The name means hot bath and is a blend of anchovies, butter, olive oil and garlic melted and heated in a fondue pot. savoy cabbage leaves are the traditional add in but you can also add semi cooked London broil for a truly filling meal (along with crusty Italian bread for mopping up the sauce in the pot afterwards). Swiss chard and potatoes can also be dipped in along with onions, celery and spinach. Across the Alps in the Swabia home chefs make the warmly satisfying Gaisburger Marsch, a nourishing beef stew rich with potatoes and spaetzle, the little dumpling noodles. Spaetzles are also made and served with large heaping spoonfuls of sauerkraut and a platter of different wursts. This is a great weekend meal because it requires  steaming or boiling everything.

Alpine cuisine means hearty foods served in even heartier quantities. These are perfect for the cold months ahead. Make them and feel cozy on the inside and out.

A Plea For The New Year

 

If only life were like living in a fairy tale with gingerbread houses and spun sugar gifts. The year past has been just awful to restaurants, diners, bistros and cafes worldwide. We need to order more from our local mom and pop eateries as much as we can. If they're offering outdoor dining , then have a meal in the fresh air if the weather is good  - or just bundle up. Try to eat out even twice a month. If you feel this is too much, then order from them at least every week. Make it a fun weekend treat.

 2020 taught us to not only protect ourselves but protect each other. This year, in 2021, we need to protect the worldwide restaurant industry. They need us as much as we need them.

A Happier New Year

 From my half done gingerbread spice cookie house to yours 

Happy New Year!!! 

Let's hope and pray 2021 is the year we go back to our favorite restaurants!!!!!🎩🎉🎉🎉🎉🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆

Restaurants Lost

 This year has been a truly devastating one. Besides the genocidal loss of life, businesses have also been badly impacted. None worse is the restaurant industry. It's not just the big cities like New York or Los Angeles were hit. Smaller towns' culinary gems were also destroyed thanks to quarantine and the loss of business. It is catastrophic to say the least.

The New York Times Food section devoted most of today's section to this heart wrenching loss. One of the most saddest is Philadelphia's City Tavern which opened in 1773. This was Ben Franklin's hangout where the menu really hand't changed since then. There was  even a tofu recipe inspired by Franklin's 1770 letter to John Battram. Diners raved about  celebrity chef Walter Staib's  roast duck and Colonial turkey pot pie. Chef Staib is also the host of the PBS show A Taste of History  which now will be his salvation . Other famed eateries that everyone thought would go on forever folded. The famed K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen closed its' doors forever snuffing out the memory of the late chef Paul Prudhomme. Both chef and restaurant opened the world's eyes to such truly Cajun dishes as blackened redfish and chicken-Andouille sausage gumbo. Manhattan's Lucky Strike was also one of this year's victims.It was known for its' lychee martinis and tuna tartare.It was one of regular contributor Julia Moskin's favorites. Chicago 's Blackbird is also no more.Like Lucky strike it came into being in the prosperous 1980's with its' sophisticated menu.

Smaller family owned restaurants have also affected.  Honolulu's Like-Like Drive In which opened even before Hawaii became a state closed after sixty-seven years of feeding the city. For three generations the Nako family served teriyaki burgers, Vienna sausages and lemon chiffon pie to locals and tourists alike. Chef Mark Noguchi  remembered his childhood visits there where he had Green River lime soda and the Hawaiian noodle soup saimin.Dallas' Taco Shop may have opened in only 2012 yet this taqueria  in a former gas station was an instant hit with construction workers and suits alike. People went  for their carnitas, barbacoa and picadilo as owner , former psychologist Emilia Flores made everyone feel welcome . Even bakeries felt the virus's bite. Sunny Donuts in San Jose, California created mouth watering buttermilk, blueberry and chocolate glazed ones as well as one with homemade raspberry jam inside. Sales dropped during the pandemic and the owners Chip and Sara Lim decided to retire. They already had gone through a McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts franchises.

We need to be a restaurant culture again when this pandemic ends - and it will. Support your local  family owned eateries , coffee shops and bakeries. We need them as much as they need us.

A Summer Classic Winterized

 Spinach salad is always a welcome lunch or dinner come summer.Yet it's winter and what do you do? Winterize it. I also gave this an Italian twist with garlic, serving it on polenta rounds.

It's sauteing about sixteen ounces of already chopped baby bellas and sixteen ounces of spinach   along with two cloves of chopped  garlic and olive oil.

I also added one large chopped beefsteak tomato. 

I felt I needed more flavor so I added some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and a cube of Not Chick'n bouillon.

It cooked  up nicely.

As this was cooking, I sliced the polenta into rounds and fried them on the grill.

I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter for a more buttery flavor which I feel goes with polenta.

The taste was more intense than a simple salad. It was a delicious blend of veggies that worked well with the polenta. You could add pancetta to copy the bacon in the original salad if you want or chicken strips, soy or the real thing.

Nothing beats a spinach salad . Yet it's winter. Time to winterize it with  heating up the ingredients and creating a hot tasty saute to warm you up.

Holistic Eating In The New Year

 Now that Christmas is over and a better year (hopefully awaits) it's time to start thinking about eating better. Holistic eating is a start in the right direction. You can lose weight  but without the strident rules of other diets.

Some may dismiss holistic eating as being too New Age. However it's the best thing that can happen to you and your body. You can finally break up with the diet culture and trust your own instincts about what's good for you. Another important aspect is seeing it as fuel, something to drive you. It's not filler. It's also honoring your body and the signals its' giving you. Doing such will give you satisfaction and a new self respect. Start off with a temporary food journal - nothing long term or you'll make yourself crazy. Do it for the first couple of months. Record how hungry you were when you sat down as well as the mood you were in. Did you eat everything or left some on the plate? How satisfied were you with the food and what did you eat. Other questions deal with experiencing emotions and did you feel any gastrointestinal problems? Note flavors. You may notice patterns arising during your meal times. You may feel hangry or a mix of hungry and angry when you eat lunch. There may be stress at breakfast or tiredness at dinner. are you gravitating towards more processed than fresh foods? Do you drink soda and tea with your meals or just water? Look at all the bad habits you have and try to amend them.

What should you eat on a holistic diet? Load up on fruits and veggies. Try to get as much organic as possible. Hit the farmer;s market when they eventually come back (this may take a while thanks to Covid and the communities welcome back to open air markets). Try to eat as much raw as possible however don't feel guilty if you have steamed broccoli or pan roasted carrots. One of the most important steps in  creating a holistic diet is ditching all those white flour and processed products. Go for whole grain and gluten free. If you're into baking then go for King Arthur and  Bob's Red Mill gluten free barley, oat and buckwheat flours. There is even a  holistic cookie recipe that calls for white beans. Beans and legumes are a must. Think chickpeas, black beans , lentils and peas. They are full of protein, Vitamin B and dietary fiber. They  also help build the much needed healthy gut bacteria.Just don;t eat them raw. Cook them if they're not already cooked before canning. You will need healthy fats. Eat more avocados, nuts and olive oil. All three are very versatile and can be used in a number of dishes. What do you get rid of? Sugar!!!!!! Ditch the white stuff and switch to honey and/or maple sugar. That means nixing all those sodas and drinking water or flavored seltzer.

The New Year is fast approaching. Treat yourself and your body with a holistic eating. It's a way of getting in shape not just with your body but also your mind and life.