Leni sorensen A Food Historian

 We need food historians. They are the ones that connect us to our culinary past. They show us where our recipes, likes and dislikes come from.Leni Sorenson is one of those who brings history to life through eating.

Regular contributor Kim severson wrote about this amazing woman in today's section of New York Rimes Food. Ms. Sorenson is a seventy-nine year old firecracker with a salty mouth and sweet foods of the past. she is also the star of Netflix's show High On The Hog based on the book of the same name by culinary historian Jessica B. Harris. she was the one who recommended Dr. Sorenson for the program. The good doctor has had an interesting life. she dropped out of  san Diego High when she was sixteen to become a folk singer. she did return, earning a PhD at age sixty in american studies from The College Of William and Mary. she learned about cooking from her step dad who was from Louisiana and took her to barbecue stands and taught her southern Creole recipes. she also jumped into the  hippie California cooking scene , along with hosting dinner parties and teaching informal classes on vegetarian cooking and sprouted grain bread. she moved to Canada met her second husband through a personal ad in Mother Earth News. she move to his south dakota home where she learned canning and how tot urn milk into cheese and yogurt.

It was her time at a historic site where she got into the history of black cooking. she could also spin wool , butcher hogs and can venison. Her house , Indigo House is a now a place for those to eat historic dishes and discuss them for eight-nine dollars. she also teaches canning. The historical dinner Ms. severson recently attended had the theme of three centuries of female chefs. The first course was a simple cold tomato soup adapted from the 1770 book Receipt Book of  Harriott PInckney Horry, a South Carolina cook. The second course was fish fricasseed in stock cream and butter. It was a recipe from Malinda Russell's 1866 cookbook A Domestic Cookbook COntaining A Careful Collection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen. This is the oldest known cookbook by an African American woman. Dr. sorenson served it  with a salad and  one of Tom Jefferson's favorite tarragon dressings. dessert was Edna Lewis' custardy bread pudding taken from her 1977 book The Taste of Country Cooking.Ms. Lewis was the only black woman  who wrote cookbooks back forty years ago.

Dr. Sorenson is a gem, full of good history and good recipes. She will not let the past die. Thanks to her , the history of African American history will go on

Easy Fall Baking

As with fall cooking, fall baking should be an easy transition into more complex and complicated recipes leading up to the holiday baking extravaganza. After months of not stirring and whisking and staying away from the oven it's now time to head back into creating sweet treats.

Apples are big right now. Home bakers are probably itching to use those apples picked over the weekend. One simple recipe is apple crisp . This does require a tart apple like Granny Smith.It counterbalances the sweetness of the crisp made with just flour oats, sugar cinnamon and butter. The only labor intensive work is cutting the apples into wedges and then coating them with flour and cinnamon for the filling. Apple crumble is similar and can be quickly made for a same day dessert. This is also pie season however you can cheat at this by using already made crusts. These cut down on time and labor, producing a tender crusted pie that's just as delicious as one with a scratch crust.Baked apples are another easy dessert that just requires apple , cinnamon and some kind of nut. It's just coring the apple and filling it with a mix of spices, ground walnuts or pecans and butter. You can also sub in half a caramel for the butter for an inside out caramel apple. Pop these in the microwave for three minutes or until tender

Nothing beats a warm cinnamon roll on a frosty autumn morning,  You can easily makes these thanks to Pilsbury Grands Cinnamon rolls.These are an easy bake and perfect for mornings or an early afternoon snack. Not surprisingly you can make these from scratch too. This does require yeast but it's not as scary as it sounds. Use Fleischmann's fast rising yeast for this.  Once you've made yeast rolls you can graduate to easy yeast breads or rolls. The recipe only has a handful of ingredients such as the yeast, flour,, sugar salt and water. The bread can be the perfect accompaniment to dinner but it can also be toasted for breakfast and used for sandwiches for lunch or in a nice fall picnic.Once you've gotten in the swing of fall baking you can attempt cookies. Of course the easiest would be the Pillsbury slice and bake kind but there are some scratch recipes that are simple to whip up. Try a maple oatmeal one that combines chewy oatmeal with the earthy taste of another fall flavor. a maple cake with frosting is another simple dessert , perfect for  ending a Sunday dinner.

Ease into fall baking. start with easy to mix and easy to bake treats. Try  rolls or an apple crisp. experiment with baked apples or a maple cake. Jump into simple recipes that will sweeten your season.

Ease Into Fall Cooking

 Summer cooking is an easy rut to fall into. You either grill or microwave. Not much else. Yet when fall arrive the family demands a more wholesome, possibly more intricate dinner. What to do? Ease into fall cooking.

Easing into a more elaborate meal is simple. Now you can make pastas on these chilly nights You can buy already cooked spaghetti or just boil the regular kind. As for sauces start off with the jarred. Customize them by adding mushrooms or basil from the garden. Make it heartier by offering a loaf of Italian bread with it to mop up the sauces. Don't sweat if the family wants garlic bread. Supermarkets such as Acme sell already buttered and laden with garlic loaves. All you have to do is rub oil and salt on the crust and pop it in the oven. As for lasagna, there are already boiled pasta sheets and again use jarred sauce.If the family wants a chicken or turkey dinner then head to your local grocery store. Pick up a rotisserie chicken, and grab a box of instant mashed potatoes. You can use the chicken's juices for gravy.Round it out with any steam in the bag vegetable and dinner rolls and you have a great supper. Meat loaf is another easy fix that can be made.It's just a blend of ground beef or turkey mixed with bread crumbs and seasoning. You can add chopped onions and peppers if you want. Again instant mashed potatoes make the perfect side to this along with a tossed salad.

Sheet pans dinners are another quick and simple dinner choice. You can put anything on it,from all sorts of meat and fish to nothing  but veggies.A tasty combo is salmon with asparagus and red potatoes. Another delicious pairing is shrimp with mixed veggies. The seafood shares the pan with onions broccoli and onions. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser and easy to make.Sub in chicken for the shrimp for a different week night meal.Sheet pan dinners can go vegan too. Try marinated tofu cut in squares or triangles with any number of veggies like green beans and carrots or broccoli and sweet potatoes. You could also try an all vegetable sheet pan dinner. Roast Brussels sprouts with  cubed butternut squash and onions,Make it with a teriyaki sauce and serve with instant rice.Crockpots and Insta-Pots figure heavily in transitional cooking. You can make a simple chili with just ground beef , two or three kinds of beans , spicings and tomato sauce. Serve over a bed of nacho chips. Stews are also an easy cook in a crockpot. Try a chicken one with dumplings or a beef one with carrots , potatoes and turnips.

The weather is changing. Summer becomes fall. It's time to ease into heartier more complex dinners. You can if you just keep it simple and easy.

The Flexitarian Life

 Many people find transitioning from carnivore to herbivore daunting. They're grown up eating delicious BLTs and juicy steaks. They find it difficult eschewing butter and cheese. Yet these are the same people who want to help the planet and animals or protect their health.What to do? Become a flexitarian.

What are flexitarians? A person who is a vegetarian but occasionally eats meat or fish. It's the easiest way to convert from a meat eater to a vegetarian and then to a vegan, someone who does not ingest any animals or animal based products. In yesterday's New York Times Business section there was an interesting article about companies like Beyond Burgers and Impossible  Meat  catering to the large and growing sector of flexitarians. Now it's much easier to transition than years ago. Soy products of even twenty years ago were horrible, with a funky taste and aftertaste not to mention a rubbery texture.Veggie burgers were the worst . They were studded with peas and fell apart at first bite. Now  people can't tell the difference between the real thing and the plant based burger. Beyond Meat burgers grill up nicely with a crusty exterior and a juicy pink inside. These can easily be served two or three times a week or at a Sunday tailgating party. The company also had the plant based meat in loaf form which makes for a yummy meat loaf. Serve it with a mushroom gravy and a side of mashed potatoes for comfort food goodness.

Another company that can help you go meatless is Gardein. Their products have an authentic taste.  A favorite is their Ultimate Burger which can be subbed for beef patties. Their battered fish fillets are the best, tasting like North Atlantic cod. The batter coating is nice and crispy  and brings to mind those fish and chips platters at seafood restaurants like Bahr's in the Atlantic Highlands. This is one of my favorites, perfect with Ore-Ida fries. Their chicken nuggets are also good, great with any dipping sauce. What about milk , butter and cheese? These are staples in our everyday diets. For milk go with Almond Breeze from Blue Diamond.Their milk is very good especially in cereal. It comes in plain, vanilla and chocolate, The company also makes creamer and yogurt too in tasty flavors like caramel cream, for the creamer and strawberry and peach for the yogurt. Miyoko's Creamery is the best brand for your butter and cheese needs.Miyoko Schinner has created a butter that's exactly like the real thing.She has created a variety of different cheeses., from mozzarella to cheddar for pizzas and sandwiches.

It is easy to become a flexitarian.There are so many animal free products out there you won't miss the real thing. Try them all for the first step in healthy and compassionate eating.

Fall Dishes Part Two The Sweet Side

 One of the best parts of fall is getting back into the baking groove.The cooler air draws us inside to the warmth of a cozy kitchen.We feel more energized too , ready to rake on rolling out dough and whipping up batters and  frostings>Luckily The New York Times has included some yummy dessert recipes in their fall guide. I'ts time to get baking.

Yesterday we covered the savory side of fall cooking, Now here's the treat  - the sweet side that would make the perfect after for those lush and ribsticking meals. These are perfect for ending a Sunday dinner or on a holiday dessert board. Times regular contributor Tejal Rao adapted  San Francisco chef's Elizabeth Prueitt's sweet potato tea cake with a meringue topping. Serve this instead of the usual sweet potato pie at your Thanksgiving dinner. The cake is made like a spice cake with the sweet potatoes married to a blend of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Brown sugar gives the cake a mellow flavor. wile the addition of orange juice gives it some zing. The meringue is the traditional recipe made with egg white, granulated sugar and vanilla.You could sub in aqua faba or chickpea water for the egg white.Another treat to make that requires no baking is apple jelly.Yewande Komolafe contributed this recipe perfect for the apple picking days ahead. Use Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Jonagold, Braeburn or Honey crisp for this. Lemon and sea salt are added to blnce the sweetness. Homemade croissants or brioches would be perfect for this for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

If you want true decadence then go for Samantha Seneviratne's Mississippi Mud pie. This is a toothsome layering of a buttery graham cracker crust topped with a brownie cake rich with cocoa, , dark chocolate , eggs and more butter. a rich chocolate custard tops this. This is an old fashioned custard made with cornstarch and egg yolks. Processed Dutch cocoa and bittersweet chocolate intensify the flavor.Keep in mind that this is a labor intensive pie. The brownie layers requires whisking the yolks and the eggs separately and melting the butter and dark chocolate in a bowl over a pot of barely similar water.It's baked until the crust is set and the middle is fudgy and moist. You can top this treat with freshly whipped cream for more decadence.Even though it's a savory recipe, Julia Moskin's pretzel recipe  adapted from one from Ann Arbor Michigan's Zingerman Bakehouse could easily be served slathered with jam or honey butter for a dessert.These are laugenbrezeln with lard added to the recipe along with barley malt syrup. If you can';t find the syrup use brown sugar instead. You'll also need food grade dipping lye for the initial dipping before baking,Rubber gloves are also needed for this and you'll need plenty of table space for rolling out the unformed pretzels.

Fall will be here and it's time to get baking. Try a decadent pie or cake or just have a warm pretzel with apple jelly to satisfy your sweet tooth. Any of these are perfect for the cool days ahead.

Dishes For Fall Part One

 Autumn will be here in a week. The temperatures should be dropping and we should go from easy cooking to more complex recipes. Luckily the New York Times Food section online has some good ideas to kickstart the season. They'll be even great to make and bake well into the holidays.

The offerings are varied. There are main dishes and desserts, each interesting and flavorful. Tejal Rao gives us a really intriguing one - warm tofu and fresh soy beans cooked in salted French butter with a celery seed gastrique. This last is a savory caramel (!) sauce that's punched up with apple cider and chili flakes. This may be labor intensive because the soft tofu is made from homemade soy milk. A less intensive dish is Eric Kim's Ritzy cheddar chicken breasts.. This is mixing crumbled Ritz crackers with sharp cheddar shreds and garlic and onion powders coating sour cream marinated chicken breasts. This seems like a fun dish with homemade fries on a Friday or Saturday night. There's also a buttermilk brined chicken from chef Samin Nosrat that has  just three ingredients, the chicken, buttermilk and salt. It's the perfect Sunday dinner  complete with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies.It's not listed but yesterday's Food section featured an easy but filling pasta recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi. This is a simple but filling blend of any kind of pasta mixed with white beans and pesto. Add anchovies for kick or pancetta for mellowness. You could also sub in kale or spinach for the basil.

Another simple but filling dish is a Dijon and cognac beef stew by Regina Schrambling.It was first published in The Times after 9/11. It was comforting then and is comforting now when being with family is important. Beef chuck is mixed with salt pork along with carrots and mushrooms. Two kinds of mustard are added, Dijon and Pommery mustard. The half cup of Cognac pulls everything together. Another comfort food is the pressure cooker chicken with dumplings. Melissa Clark created this yummy mix of drumsticks and thighs - dark meat and dumplings made from a mix of all purpose flour and cornmeal. Chives give them zing. They're cooked in the broth the chicken is cooking in. You can add peas for color and more flavor. Another comforting dish is a savory mushroom bread pudding. This is Susan Spungen's take that has buttery brioche torn and cooked up with porcini mushrooms along with such fresh ones as cremini or shiitake. There are also leeks added for more flavor and six eggs give it a custardy feel. This is a great holiday side but also the perfect vegetarian dish too.

Fall is fast approaching. It's time to delve into more complex recipes for heartier fare.Use these recipes to jump into autumn cooking.

Wine School Is Open

 Fall is fast approaching  and with it comes lush meals. These dishes  require a good wine. Yet what do you choose to go with that pork roast or Cornish hen? Do you serve a desert wine and if so which one? The best thing to do is educate yourself knowing what to drink is as important as what to cook.

Wine critic and author of The Pour column in the Wednesday New York Times food section gave tips and pointers in his "wine school column' in today.s Food section. This is the seventh year of Wine Class and it has proven to be useful, especially for those new to wine. It's very practical. He tells readers don't be afraid to explore.There are now plenty of  good wines at reasonable prices.you can get a lot for  your dollar and build your own wine collection;. Also cultivate a relationship with your wine shop. They;re excellent in helping picking out the right wine. Defy conventional wisdom<it's closely related to biases and prejudices. Don't be snobbish as was the case with aligote which has long despised as the other white grape. It turned out to be quite delicious. ALso  consider the terroir or place of origin. That feeds into the grapes 'flavor as it does with cheese and chocolate too..Another tip is food pairings Experiment  with pairings. What works well with that roast chicken or pasta/ serve a different wine every time you have a meal

One of the most important aspects is finding the best value for the price. The smaller the distributor the higher the cost.Understand that the supply of most good wines is finite as they are products of specific vineyards with one harvest per year. Learn from mass market wines.They're basically mass produced and cost less than the more "boutique" wines.Oenophiles get upset when these are mentioned , and no good wine is under ten dollars. Mr. Asimov also recommends valuing simplicity along with respecting the classics. There are times when you'll want a more complex multifaceted wine , others ypu jut want something less complicated. Consider the classics like a good Bordeaux.Appriciate nuance such as the ripeness of the grapes>Also what is greatness in wine as wine lovers asked about Verdicchio de Matelica a white from Italty's Marche area.also get opinions and join the conversation on Mr. Asimov's take on a 2019 Chablis

wine school is open and take a class or two . Know your wines for easier  choices for dinners and parties.  They're simple lessons that will last a lifetime.