Sundaes Rethought

 What makes a sundae so special?It's not the ice cream itself - although that helps. It's what is put on it. Usually there;s a drenching pool of chocolate syrup or caramel sauceIt doesn't;t have to be this way. Sundaes can be tethought.

I found this in creating a simple yet elegant looking tasty dessert. I bought Brownie bites from Stop and Shop. These would be good with ice cream.

What would be a better accompaniment that Otaly vegan ice cream. Of course it did need another something special 

I love Alesto's Dried Berry Medley, from Lidl.It;s has a mixed of cranberries ,cherries and blueberries. This worked beautfully with the chocolate and vanilla.These could've ven work with chocolate ice cream too. A sundae doesn't;t always have to have sauce.It could have  crushed hazelnuts or walnuts. It could lie on a bed of chocolate chip cookies or a brownie bite. It doesn;t need whipped cream. Keep it simple and let the flavors shine though.

A sundae can be anything you throw together. Unfortunately many layer ice cream with tons of syrup and sauce and have blobs of whipped cream on it. Make a simplistic sundae instead.It'll be more memorable and tastier.

Best Of The Irish

Ireland is known for it';s beautiful cliffs and country side, it's pubs and parishes. Yet it's also it's food that makes this Celtic gem stand out. Thanks to the amount of natural resources an Irish diet is full of rich, flavorful food.

One of the best Irish imports is butter. Home chefs and bakers alike rave about Kerrygold, an Irish but from grass fed cows.It is higher in butter fat than American butter, eighty-two per cent to the American eighty.The cows graze on beta carotene rich grasses which affects the butter's flavor.It also has a smoother ,creamier texture too which makes it perfect for spreading on any hot slice of toast or muffin. Aldi also sells an Irish based butter Countryside. NO matter which you wind up with  use in in sauteed or just to top veggies.Irish cream (not the whiskey of the same name) is very good as well. Whip the cream and use it as a special side to any plain cake.Do the Irish have good cheeses thanks to all these rich dairy? Yes! Most of the counties do produce good qualities of various kinds. Cheddar is big but there is also the Gouda like Wicklows Farmer's Cheese.Cashel Blue is another popular cheese, similar to Blue cheese with its' veins of mold.

Any breakfast lover knows that Irish steel cut oats make the best hot breakfast. They're made from whole oats groats which are the cats with the kernels intact. They make the oats more nutritious.They're coarsely chopped into pieces  resulting in a more chewier texture and a nutty flavor.They do cook longer than  the regular kind but are great with lush ingredients added to them. Add whole cream and stir in brown sugar or maple syrup.Yes you can bake with them. The final products will be a denser chewier product. Think using them in chocolate chip cookies. They'll pair well with the brown sugar and dark chocolate chips. Ireland has another home grown product - not of the land but of the sea.Irish sea weed is becoming a culinary must. It is used in everything from recipes to cold remedies and beauty products. There are three types, dulse, which is the most popular along with  carrageen moss, bladderwrack sea spaghetti and sugar kelp.They can be cooked, into side dishes , salads and baked into different products.

Ireland has the best products and produces the best foods. From their butter to their seaweed there's a range of flavors. Try them to experience Celtic goodness.

Celtic Libations

 Saint Patrick;s Day brings a host of traditional Irish  foods and drink. People do know and love lamb stew and boxty yet Irish stouts and ales. flummox them. What's the best to drink? How is stout different from ale? There are so many aspects to decipher.

St Patrick's Day is a day to try a big pint of stout - namely  Guinness . This iconic ale was first created in 1759 by Arthur Guinness in Dublin. He had a 9,000 (!!!!!) year old lease on Saint James Brewery. It first produced many beers but then concentrated on a dark one first called porter then stout. Now there is a difference between the two. Porters use malted barley while the other uses just barley. This give stout  a roasted coffee like, almost bitter flavor. The taste does make it excellent for baking. Many use it ,combined with chocolate to create rich cakes and cupcakes.Porter's taste is also good, with a chocolate-y caramel or even a light coffee taste.Many porter cakes usually have brown sugar to balance this out as well as complementing the flavor. Keep in mind if you;re on a pub crawl on Monday, go easy on the stout.It has a higher alcohol content than porter. You can simply nurse one for an evening. You could also go for a pint of porter which is lighter and won;t leave you with a hangover on Tuesday morning.

Of course there's no avoiding a good dream of Irish whiskey on St Patrick's day. Yet which one is the best along with should you of with Irish or Scottish whisky.The different spellings can tell you something. whiskey with an e is the drink being distilled  three times while the one without an e is distilled only twice. The triple distilling give the finished product a lighter flavor. It can also be produced with both unmalted and malted barley.Malted just means the grains are allowed to ferment in water until sprouts appear.They're then dried and this process gives the sugars needed for fermentation. There are many Celtic themed cocktails to make with whiskey, namely the famed Irish coffee. This is coming a good whiskey such as Bailey's with hot coffee and sugar.A  thick layer of cream is put on top of the cup and you sip through that.THis can end a wonderful evening meal of lamb stew or a roast leg of lamb. There is also Irish cider a  blend of whiskey and hard cider for an extra kick.if you;re a light drinker than stick with a whiskey sour, a mix of whiskey, lemon or lime juice and simple or maple syrup. You can tell the bartender to go light on the whiskey so it kind of resembles a shandy.

Monday is a day for having fun and drinking. Just pick the drink that bests suit you.It could be a gorgeous dark stout or a light whiskey cocktail. Either way celebrate with a toast and Slainte

It's Pi Day!

Today is 3-14  Pi day here in the States. everyone is going crazy over the different pies out there from pizza to the dessert kind. It's also , fittingly Einstein;s birthday as well.

Here;s the question what kind of pie excites you? Is it pizza , loaded with all sorts of topping and extra cheese?Is it a dessert one with a side of fluffy whipped cream or scoops of vanilla ice cream? My favorite pizza is anchovy (what can I say , it's the Piedmontese blood) with extra sauce, sop extra that's its drippy. My favorite sweet pie  - pecan(again why can I say, it's my Southern and Midwestern roots) . either one makes me want to celebrate. Let's see what your faves and why. 

The US Truffle Capital

 Mention truffle capitol and most people will automatically think of Torino where truffles are found along the city'ss outskirts and neighboring woods. Yet the US has its own truffle capital- Eugene Oregon. Will America truffles catch on? Possibly.

Regular  contributor and restaurant critic Pete Wells stepped out of his comfort zone to head to Oregon and write about these gems in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section.It seems the woodlands outside Eugene make for excellent truffle grounds however truffles have been found as north as Vancouver Island in British Columbia and as south as Port Reyes, California just north of San Francisco. There are two varieties that grown here - white and black. The ideam land is former grassland now planted with Douglas first. A truffle hunter like Charles Lefebrve knows this land although it does help to use Google Earth to track down exact locations. He also used two trained dogs, Dante and Luca. Their breed is Lagooto Romagnolos ,a breed particularly raised to sniff out truffles, originating in the PO Valley. However other dogs throughout the Eugene area can be trained to hunt for truffles, no matter the breed. 

What are the truffles used for? Pacific Northwest ones seem to be used only by chefs in the region. East Coast chefs have rarely heard of them (although that could be about to changes thanks to this article). They are not the same as their Northern Italian cousins however. This proved to be the case for Elias Cairo, owner of Olympia Provisions in Portland,.He found they have their own flavor profile that represents "this really cool forest" in the United States. Luckily there is the Oregon Truffle Festival.It;s focused on helping chefs understand the fungi. Mr Cairo cures salame next to the white truffles so the meat can soak up the aroma, usually a aromatic blend of nutmeg, allspice and cloves. They also emit a gamy musk that reminds him of wild boar. Chef Deb Meyer of Choux Pastries has infused that aroma into goat cheese filling for her macarons. The blacks themselves are usually milder except when they are at the smelliest. They can still turn heads. However unlike the European variety they can be used in desserts. A chocolatier  in Eugene makes a truffle truffle, glossy domes of white chocolate filled with truffle infused creme fraiche. There;'s also n ice cream infused with black truffles too.

Piedmontese truffles are the creme de la creme of eating. Yet the Oregonian ones are gaining in strength and popularity. It may be that Oregon may beat Northern Italy as the world's truffle capital-.

Coziness with Oats

 There is something about an airy dish that homey and satisfying. Maybe ti;s because of the grain being the most basic but also the most everyday.It's also lent itself to being good as an ingredientfor baked goods and hearty breakfasts.

Regular author and top baker Genevieve Ko wrote about it and gave two recipes in today;s New York Times Food section As she puts it oats can work miracles. Cooked otameal has a comforting and relaxing scent like clean fresh hay.There's also a natural sweetness to them that regular flour doesn;t have.They add to everything, from creating sweet crunchy toppings to extra chewy cookies like oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Chef Ko gives two recipes with them - honey oat pancakes and oatmeal chocolate chocolate chip muffins. Both are great ways to start a chilly Spring morning. There are so many different typrs of oats to use. What should home chefs use? She recommends quick cooking and instant oats are ideal for the pancakes because they;re small and flat, perfect for cooking. They;ve been finely chopped and steamed before packaging . They;re already made into flakes. Keep in mind that instant oats are going to be thinner than the quick cooking kind. They'll give the finished product s a chewier texture according to Sarina Shatseen , a culinary content specialist at the flour company Bob's Red Mill.

The recipes are perfect for breakfasts(or even for a Sunday lunch). The honey oat pancakes have the oatmeals soaked in buttermilk along with flax, honey and salt for a good ten minute. The longer the mixture sits the creamier and tender the pancakes. Use this time to make eggs and bacon . After the ten minutes add two tablespoons of canola or any flavorless oil. Baking soda and flour are then mixed in . They should be cooked in butter for a richer flavor.. Serve hot with more honey and definitely more butter for the ultimate treat.The oatmeal chocolate chip muffins can be perfect for breakfast or just a mid afternoon snack with coffee or tea. Use quick cooking oats for these along with flour and brown sugar. Cardomon is also added, giving the crumbs a lovely flavor. There is also eggs, butter and whole milk to give the muffins body. After the wet and dry ingredients are mixed the chips are gently added in. They're baked at 400 degrees Farenhit for twenty minutes. Use cupcake papers and bake in a muffin tin.

Oatmeal cna be a great addition to anything for breakfast or sweet. Try it in these pancakes or muffins. They;re a healthy and tasty addition to any recipe,

The Perfect Salad

 What makes a good salad? Start with the greens. then those tasty add in and finished with a drizzle of a favorite dressing. Yet many get this . What happened to perfection?

Personally I find that a bag of mixed greens is your best bet.

I like Fresh Express.

The salad is already cut, It' just needs to be thrown into a good salad bowl. As for the dressing.I usually start with adding about two to three tablespoons of a good olive oil like Lidls' and a teaspoons or a sprinkle of white wine vinegar - also Lidl

's. This way only a small amount of dressing is used and doesn't;t overpower the greens. S

alt and pepper help too.  I like to add croutons but if it's summer some tuna and fresh veggies to give it a Nicoise vibe.

I drizzle a generous amount of dressing - namely - Follow Your Heart ranch dressing.It has a mild flavor and but not overpowering. You can still taste the greens  with it. Cheese, sunflower seeds and almonds can top this if you want.

What makes a good salad? Thoughtfulness in creating it and good ingredients that you love. That's what makes a bowl of greens sing.