From Home Chefs To Culinary Stars

 It's amazing how You Tube can raise the profile of anybody, especially the home chef. Now women in Arab countries are discovering the power of this platform as they share their recipes and heritage with the world.It's a chance to shine and expand the world's palate.

Food and culture writer, Reem Kassis wrote about this phenomena in today's New York Times Food section.Middle Eastern and North African women are generating extra income for their families as they show their recipes to the world. The kitchen has always been the heart of domesticity in their world.It's kept women tethered to it for millennia. Only twenty-five per cent of women actually work outside the . You Tube os changing that .It's changing the power dynamic for Arab women and turning their kitchens into a source of income and influence. Women like Heba Abo Elkheir started a YOuTube channel after her husband suggested it. She featured such classic dishes as basbousa - a sweet semolina cake and macarona bil bechamel a kind of baked mac and cheese.In less than three years she has amassed three million viewers becoming a top wage earner as well as being one of the top three women leading food channels on YouTube across the Middle East and Africa or MENA.

Ms. Abo Elkheir isn't the only one.Katrina Boukar is raking in money too. Her dessert videos are legendary with tons of viewers. They're simple and economical.  Her most popular video has more than sixteen million viewers. It was about a  three ingredient coconut macaroon inspired dessert. It was followed by a chocoflan and a cold brewed(!) pudding. She was going to give it up when she had her first born son but the child was diagnosed with autism., Her revenue from YouTube paid for his medications.Another successful home chef is Ola Tashman. A native Jordanian created her You Tube channel in 2018 when she was living in Saudi Arabia. She missed the traditional Eid cookies of ma'amoul (a date filled cookie) and her mother's recipe of shushbarak, a lamb dumpling cooked in yogurt sauce. The Syrian refugee situation has helped another You Tube chef,Muna Al - Amsha who fled the Syrian Civil War with her husband, They and their five children relocated to Kurdistan where she started a channel featuring all the recipes that Syrians around the world missed. It became wildly popular.

You TUbe is not only a great platform for chefs to show off  their recipes, it;s also a great way to earn a sizable income. For women of the Arab World ,it's a way to be successful and have a satisfying career.It combines the love of food with the need for recognition.

One Steak Many Ways

 Steak is one of the most versatile cuts. It can be smoky, spicy, mellow. It can be grilled or sauteed. It's perfect on the grill or just air fried.It makes for the perfect summer dinner.

Before you buy know the different cuts. There are actually seventeen (!) types of steak.Decide which one fits what you want to do.Rib eye steak is the most famous and well loved.It's marbled with rich fat so all it needs is a good sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. It's better cooked om a grill or in a cast iron skillet with some butter.Filet mignon is one of those luxurious cuts. It has a melt in your mouth quality and is usually the most expensive. It's good on it's own but you could add some lemon butter to it. Strip steak is one of the most popular . You can get it with the bone Kansas City style or New York , which is without the bone.This is a versatile  cuts You can grill, pan fry or air fry it. Yes it's good on it's own but you can also add  a spice rub or a marinade. A good spice one has brown sugar mixed with paprika and garlic powder. Some add coffee too , both in wet and dry marinades.It's better in wet marinades because the grounds can be a bit too much (and can give you a really wild buzz). A good coffee marinade has the drink mixed with soy sauce, sesame seeds and Worcestershire sauce.

If you want to treat yourself think a  juicy Porterhouse steak.This thick cut is perfect marinated in a herbal marinade and then grilled. You could also do a wet rub of olive oil and ground black pepper.Another popular cut is the flank steak. It  is served with a salsa verde sauce or chimichurri . This is a mix of fresh oregano, parsley and cilantro mixed with olive oil and red wine vinegar Garlic is also added as is hot pepper flakes. You could also try a blend of olive oil any citrus juice like lemon or lime plus soy sauce.A similar cut is the skirt steak. Thanks to the abundance of connective tissue (it comes from the cow's belly) it can be tough in texture. It needs a good marinade to soften it. Try one with olive oil and lemon juice. Add some herbs like rosemary and oregano for more flavor.One of the most affordable cuts is the flat iron steak. This truly is a versatile. cut.It can be pan cooked, air fried, grilled or even slow cooked. To get the best of its' flavor try a simple marinade of just olive oil , garlic and herbs.It's perfect like this, with a potato and salad but it can also be put into a fajiita too.Two other versatile pieces are sirloin steak and London Broil. These are best oven cooked, with just salt and pepper on them. They're great cold being made into sandwiches too,.

Any cut of steak is great for a warm summer night. It can be cooked any way and is delicious. Get the cut you want and create a tasty meal. 

A Good Fourth Of July

 Have a gook FOurth of July. It's really not a time to celebrate but to mobilize to make this a great country again. (although if you want to be more persuasive serve blue foods like blueberries and Cointreu. Also start gathering those  casserole recipes for those pot luck dinners and fundraisers.

We can turn all of this around. Start a grass roots movement, feed our troops , start  a culinary salon where everyone can exchange ideas and recipes.

What Ice Are You

 Believe it or not there are people who don't like ice cream. What do they do when the temps get hot and sticky? Turn to the refreshing alternative of ices and slushes. They're a breath of chilly air on a stifling day.

What are ices exactly? Flavored frozen water that can be served a variety of ways. There is Italian ice which is derives from the centuries old recipe of granita. Granita is also an easy make. This Sicilian treat which first came to Philadelphia in the early 1900's is an easy make. It's pureeing any kind of fruit and freezing it with water. After it pouring it into a shallow pan (an ice cube tray is perfect) .It's flaked with a fork for about two to three times before a final freeze of four hours. A great summer dessert is coffee granita served with a puddle of chocolate syrup and whipped cream. You usually have to make this at home because it's rarely served in ice cream shops and restaurants. Italian ice , however is popular. Thanks to chains like Ritas' there's all sorts of flavors. They have everything from fruit to soda flavored ices along with mixing the ices with gelato and regular ice cream. Italian ice is also called water ice in South Jersey and Philadelphia.Family owned chaine like Strollo's at the Jersey shore offers fruits, root bear and cappuccino flavors. These are more refreshing than a scoop of ice cream. You don't feel as thirsty as you do after eating a cone.

Many people love a sorbet. This is also a water ice. Many people confuse it with sherbet which has either milk or cream in it. Sorbet is another easy make at home.It's a combination of sugar and pureed fruit.There's always a lot of sugar used, about three quarters of a cup to create a creamy texture. Lemon or lime juice is added to counterbalance all the sweetness. Many people practically live on  Slurpee's, Icees and slushies during these hot days. Slurpee's have been around since 1966 and are popular throughout the world. They're an easy ice fix if you want something fizzy and cool. The same goes for Icee's which has such unusual flavors like Mermaid and Sugar Plum( all are fruit based). Again these are a great sip when you don't want ice cream. The problem with these however is that you have to go out on a hot day or night. You could easily create something at home thanks to Zoku slush maker. This is a long metal cup that's chilled in the freezer and then placed in an outer cup. Any kind of regular soda can be poured into it for a tasty slushie. The soda cannot be diet nor can you use seltzer. These don't freeze will and you'll wind up with a big chunk of ice.

There are so many different types of ices out there. They're all refreshing and cooling.They're perfect during these hot ,, sticky days.

The Times Two Tomato Salad

 It's summer and that means a good pasta salad. One that's interesting and a different spin on the classic recipe is Ali Slagle's two tomato salad published Wednesday in the New York Times Food section.it's combining pasta and the fruit of the season into something new.

The recipe intrigued me so i wanted to give ti a try. I added my own spin. Ms. Slagle suggests a "long" pasta like linguine or fusilli. I like a short ,nubby pasta for my salad. I chose

These cooked up nicely and when cooked provided a tasty little bite.

The next step is combining coarsely chopped  vine ripened tomatoes (I used five )

.These are mixed with cut sun dried tomatoes. Ms. Slagle uses the kind packed in oil.I added my own oil as the cut sun dried tomatoes had to be cooked.

This should be sauteed in oil and garlic however I had no desire of more cooking in a hot kitchen. I went the microwave way. The tomatoes was liberally doused with oil and garlic powder before they were cooked.

The tomatoes were  microwaved for three minutes and then mixed with the other tomatoes and pasta.

I made this in the early afternoon. Right before serving I added a cup of shredded basil as required. However the recipe also called for adding nuts like almonds or pine nuts. I thought it should have a Neopolitan bread salad vibe so I added crunchy croutons.

They're just as crunchy as nuts and give the entire salad a fun texture. These are added individually.

The basil also adds to it,These are the leaves I just picked from my garden and they cut the acidity with their fresh greenness.

My version was a pretty good  take. I liked the amalgam of textures along with the married flavor of the two tomatoes. The croutons gave it crunch but also the taste of the bread salad. You could add some vinegar but there's really no need.It was just perfect as is.

This is the perfect salad for the holiday and the rest of the summer. It's a nice change up from the usual pasta based ones. It's cool, tasty and easy to make - perfect for a hot sweltery day.

Good Fourth of July Recipes

 What makes a good holiday? Its' recipes. For the Fourth of July,  its' ones that reflect the American culinary landscape that's ever changing. It's combining them with the produce of the season to create tasty summer dishes.

Regular contributor  and senior editor Genevieve Ko  gave an excellent array of good recipes in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section.what is great about this is that it reflects the rich multi ethnicity of this country. You could easily start with the Puerto Rican churrasco. This one from Von Diaz requires skirt steaks first marinated in a mix of garlic clove, oregano, white vinegar and olive oil.Adobo seasoning is added to this for more flavor. The meat can settle in this from ten minutes to overnight.  The marinade is then shaken off right before grilling fro two to three minutes.  Since it is a thicker cut it will need to be flipped a few times for even cooking.The sauce also called wasakaka is a mix of fresh parsley, cilantro and oregano leaves ground into a thin paste. Adobo seasoning and garlic is also added to this .You can use a mortar and pestle or a food processor for this. what can go with this ? A double tomato salad (which I will be making tomorrow) is the perfect foil. It's a cool mix of fresh and sun dried toamatoes. Since' it's a barbecue side there is pasta added., preferably long and twirly ones. Torn mint, basil or arugula  are also added along with  raw pine nuts, hazelnuts walnuts or almonds for crunch.

What would be the best Fourth of July dessert? Ms Ko recommends Kim Severson's decade old peach cobbler recipe. Years ago Ms. Severson , another Food section contributor took well regarded cookbook author, Edna Lewis.s one . The crust has two(!) sticks of butter in it mixed with three cups of sifted all purpose flour. There is still lard or vegetable shortening added but only a tablespoon. It should be frozen first and then cut into small pieces.There's also sugar added too. The filling has eight cups of peaches mixed with, four tablespoons of it along with freshly grated nutmeg, sugar and salt.  This is placed between the rolled out dough, cut into discs.  Four tablespoons of butter is cur up and placed on the filling before the top is slid on.Seal the edges to create a crust and slice in a few slits to let the steam out. Bake for fifteen minutes at 425 degrees Farenheit. You could gild the lily by serving it with . whipped cream or vanilla ice cream .It's still good on it's own.

The Fourth of July should reflect all of the US. Start with the Puerto Rican churrasco and Italian influenced tomato salad. Finish with the all American peach cobbler for a true American holiday.

Taiwanese Chicken Reimagined

 One of the best street foods to come out of Taiwan is their yan su ji, popcorn chicken spiced and deep fried. Thanks to Taiwanese immigrants and their kids , the dish is being reimagined and introduced to American audiences. It's a tasty take on fried chicken , full of crunch and flavor.

Winner of the James Beard food writing award and author of The Food Of Taiwan, Recipes from A Beautiful Island,(Houghton Mifflin Publishing 2015) Cathy Erway wrote about it in today's New York Times Food section.The chicken dish is  in demand as it completes with American  and Korean fried chicken chains, the last being  popular on colleges campuses. Yan su ji also rivals the Indian fried chicken sandwich  which has it's own fan base, especially in New York City. There is also an interest in Taiwanese cooking right now with Americans curious about the island's flavors and cooking techniques. Many Taiwanese American chefs are putting their own spin on it. The chicken is being tucked into sandwiches and steamed buns, .It's served atop white bread smothered in pickles or drenched in different American regional sauces, reflecting the chefs' upbringing.David Kuo of Little Fatty's in Los Angeles has changed it up completely. He used cut quail pieces , topped with fried basil and served with a spicy mayo. There are bones for crunching on too.

Most chefs, though stick with their family's recipe. Alvin Sun of Atlanta Georgia's Java Saga uses his mother and kitchen collaborator Amy Lee's one  It is  also well guarded and a secret. Surprisingly it's not one handed down for generations. The idea began in the 1970's at  night markets around the time TKK Taiwanese Chicken was created. It was based on American chicken joints  and offered those pieces alon g with deep fried cutlets called da ji pai which is also gaining in popularity here.Families, especially kids picked up on it. Some chefs are updating it as is Erik Bruner-Yang  who is half Taiwanese He adds fish sauce and serves it on toast points, an homage to the restaurant ]s former neighbor the seafood place  Horace and Dickie's, Katie Liu Sung makes not only popcorn chicken but the Taiwanese fried style on a bun with pickles at her place Chewology in Kansas City Missouri She learned the frying technique from working at the Texas chain Church's which was also in Taiwan. Both recipes benefit from it. Ms. Erway also includes her recipe for it, You will have to buy tapioca flour for it to give the pieces that classic crunch along with Chinese five spice powder.

Yan su ji is gaining in popularity and with good reason.It's a tasty, addictive bite full of flavor and crunch. It's good homemade or from a restaurant.