Hi,
It's that time of year again.
You know what I'm talking about...the bird time. Leaves have turned their wonderful colors and now are starting to do nothing more than clog up both the roads and the gutters. Slight gusts of wind blow, and finally you can see your breath when you go out late at night or very early in the morning. Its fall. And at the base of fall is Thanksgiving. The quintessential bird holiday.
Yes I know, we are celebrating the first time that the Pilgrims ate with the Indians and many people try to duplicate the tradition. We all have been forced to sit through that children's program at the school. You know the one. They dress all the kids with masks that they drew out of construction paper, and have feathers in their hair...some are Indians, some are Pilgrims and some are "narrators" (those who can't act apparently, or in some cases, these are the kids in their grades who actually can read!) But after years of listening to the story I still don't understand one thing. WHY DO I HAVE TO COOK A BIRD???
Tradition.
My mother, who passed away in 2001, tried to explain the concept to me but apparently it fell on deaf ears. We, after all, are the family who doesn't usually put up a Christmas tree. (no, it is not a communist plot, we have three dogs in a small house and I am tired of picking glass out of paws. We actually use smaller decorations instead so chill.....). Since we don't do the tree thing, we have done a Christmas present scavenger hunt (loved by my son) and other things of that ilk. But Thanksgiving, in my mind, is a food holiday. Just the idea conjures up thoughts of going to my parents house where my mother would feed 30 or so people at dinner. (never mind though that only 6 might actually be AT the table, she would still feed 30!) But she said, "Turkey for Thanksgiving is tradition! Everyone does turkey! How can you have Thanksgiving Dinner and no turkey????" She would cook enough potatoes to feed a third world nation, stuffing that would end up in several sheet pans, and numerous pies, nut roll and poppyseed roll and cookies. If she had the time to make cookies. I remember an Alka Seltzer commercial many years ago that used to air around the holidays that started with a woman's voice saying "I'll bring out the first turkey!" Now you get what I mean.
I do believe in traditions. Especially food based ones. Growing up in our house, most of the traditions we had WERE food based ones. That is just who our family tended to be. But I am not glued into an individual item like a turkey, to dictate what we really have for tradition.
I have been blessed the last few years with some very close friends. Since my parents died, having holidays was at best difficult, as there was no one even to do the "basic traditions" with. The last few years were different, and I am grateful for the loving friends we now have.
But guess what? One of the little buggers likes the turkey. And if I have to be honest, so does my husband. It is a rather large undertaking, and we don't often have the option to cook something so large, and to share it with many people.
This year we will have our holiday with our friends and some new ones will be joining us, and yes, it will be turkey. I am very happy to share this time with them all. But all I can say is this....why doesn't anyone ever want to talk about a Thanksgiving Meat Loaf?
DP
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Is this Pumpkin thing gone too far?
I was driving by one of my favorite summer eateries the other day...I confess...I'm hooked on Dairy Queen Blizzards. Ground cookies in ice cream, what is there not to like?
Well, the sign outside said, Pumpkin Pie ice cream and Pumpkin Blizzard. So you know what happened. I had to try one.
Well, the Cheesecake one has chunks of real cheesecake in it so you know what I was thinking. There was probably going to be chunks of pumpkin pie in the pumpkin pie ice cream.
NOT SO.
Disappointment crept into my soul as I tried my newly purchased confection. No pie. It was a pumpkin ice cream of sorts with cookies in it to mimic the crust. I can't take being fooled by these fast food consortiums. IF YOU CALL IT PIE, I WANT PIE. The spicing was at best mediocre and as for the pumpkin flavor. Not too pumpkiny if that is even a word.
But then it got me thinking.
How many pumpkin things are there at this time of year? And for the love of food, WHY?
Pumpkin coffee.
I was in Starbucks and they have a pumpkin latte. Pumpkin. In a coffee. Now I do have trouble with some flavors of coffee. I can handle the nut flavors after all, coffee is really a nut of sorts. And anything that usually goes with nuts should go with coffee. Now some spices will, like cinnamon and nutmeg (I have seen others put it on their cappuccino although I don't like it). But, some of the weird flavors put me off.
I cannot wrap my head around blueberry coffee under any circumstances. The local morning mart carries it, and the girl working there said it tasted like the flavor in your mouth after you've eaten a blueberry muffin and followed it with a drink of coffee. NAAH. No it isn't, its a nasty, fruity coffee gone wrong is what it is. And its younger brother raspberry isn't any better either. I am afraid that pumpkin coffee has a similar type fate in my life. I haven't tried it yet as they don't make a sugar free version . Starbucks, get on the bandwagon!!! Diabetics like more than just two flavors, Vanilla and Hazelnut and the occasional Caramel! (and most sugar free caramel flavors have a very strong flavor reminiscent of evaporated milk anyway. What's not to love?)
Pumpkin pasta.
I kid you not. I was in the supermarket and saw it there. Now I can understand pumpkin ravioli. Aren't there are many versions of stuffed pasta made out of butternut squash, served with deep fried sage and in a brown butter sauce? And truly, pumpkin isn't that far off of a relative of butternut squash in both the flavor profile and texture sense if it is treated properly. But this was pumpkin in the actual pasta. I'm not sure how the texture would be. I could see pumpkin as a gnocci (they can be soft and pillowy and handle less flour). But, I don't know how a long, dried linguine could have enough pumpkin flavor or not fall apart when cooking it.
Pumpkin cheesecake. A long standing favorite for many, including a gingersnap cookie crust for the best of presentations. Yum.
Typical standbys are pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.
We also must not forget pumpkin soup. Both as a stand alone soup and in other soups too.
How about pumpkin drinks? Some of my professional chef websites have things like Pumpkin smoothies, and even an alcoholic drink with sweet candied pumpkin cubes in it.
What about pumpkin seeds? A usual part of a vegetable that is discarded, is here cleaned, roasted/dried/salted and used in many cuisines. Pumkin seeds ground is used as thickener in some African and Moroccan recipes as well as in Latin American Mole sauces.
I guess I misjudged the mighty pumpkin. We should celebrate it and find other ways to use it.
Now to research to find the perfect pumpkin pie. That is a quest worth doing.
DP
Well, the sign outside said, Pumpkin Pie ice cream and Pumpkin Blizzard. So you know what happened. I had to try one.
Well, the Cheesecake one has chunks of real cheesecake in it so you know what I was thinking. There was probably going to be chunks of pumpkin pie in the pumpkin pie ice cream.
NOT SO.
Disappointment crept into my soul as I tried my newly purchased confection. No pie. It was a pumpkin ice cream of sorts with cookies in it to mimic the crust. I can't take being fooled by these fast food consortiums. IF YOU CALL IT PIE, I WANT PIE. The spicing was at best mediocre and as for the pumpkin flavor. Not too pumpkiny if that is even a word.
But then it got me thinking.
How many pumpkin things are there at this time of year? And for the love of food, WHY?
Pumpkin coffee.
I was in Starbucks and they have a pumpkin latte. Pumpkin. In a coffee. Now I do have trouble with some flavors of coffee. I can handle the nut flavors after all, coffee is really a nut of sorts. And anything that usually goes with nuts should go with coffee. Now some spices will, like cinnamon and nutmeg (I have seen others put it on their cappuccino although I don't like it). But, some of the weird flavors put me off.
I cannot wrap my head around blueberry coffee under any circumstances. The local morning mart carries it, and the girl working there said it tasted like the flavor in your mouth after you've eaten a blueberry muffin and followed it with a drink of coffee. NAAH. No it isn't, its a nasty, fruity coffee gone wrong is what it is. And its younger brother raspberry isn't any better either. I am afraid that pumpkin coffee has a similar type fate in my life. I haven't tried it yet as they don't make a sugar free version . Starbucks, get on the bandwagon!!! Diabetics like more than just two flavors, Vanilla and Hazelnut and the occasional Caramel! (and most sugar free caramel flavors have a very strong flavor reminiscent of evaporated milk anyway. What's not to love?)
Pumpkin pasta.
I kid you not. I was in the supermarket and saw it there. Now I can understand pumpkin ravioli. Aren't there are many versions of stuffed pasta made out of butternut squash, served with deep fried sage and in a brown butter sauce? And truly, pumpkin isn't that far off of a relative of butternut squash in both the flavor profile and texture sense if it is treated properly. But this was pumpkin in the actual pasta. I'm not sure how the texture would be. I could see pumpkin as a gnocci (they can be soft and pillowy and handle less flour). But, I don't know how a long, dried linguine could have enough pumpkin flavor or not fall apart when cooking it.
Pumpkin cheesecake. A long standing favorite for many, including a gingersnap cookie crust for the best of presentations. Yum.
Typical standbys are pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.
We also must not forget pumpkin soup. Both as a stand alone soup and in other soups too.
How about pumpkin drinks? Some of my professional chef websites have things like Pumpkin smoothies, and even an alcoholic drink with sweet candied pumpkin cubes in it.
What about pumpkin seeds? A usual part of a vegetable that is discarded, is here cleaned, roasted/dried/salted and used in many cuisines. Pumkin seeds ground is used as thickener in some African and Moroccan recipes as well as in Latin American Mole sauces.
I guess I misjudged the mighty pumpkin. We should celebrate it and find other ways to use it.
Now to research to find the perfect pumpkin pie. That is a quest worth doing.
DP
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Berbere
Hi,
The other day I was just sharking the kitchen. That's what I call it. Envision yourself going from cabinet to cabinet, in and out of the refrigerator, with the theme from the movie "Jaws" playing in your head. Yes, that is what I was doing. I had no idea what to cook and unfortunately for me I was legitimately hungry which creates another problem. I'm probably willing to eat stupid things rather than having a plan and executing some really creative dish.
I fought the urge to just eat cold cereal and milk as yes, I do have a family to feed as well. I asked them for input but, NO ONE WOULD HELP ME!!
Go and shark the freezer.
After a few minutes there, and I do have some really interesting things in my freezer, I found some boneless pork ribs. I defrosted them (I use the microwave partially, then place them on one of those defrosting trays made of black metal - they really do work). And then went looking in the larder for suggestions of what to do. My eyes wandered around a bit and then fell on the jars that I just got at Whole Foods. One of the was: Berbere.
According to Wikipedia: Berbere is a spice mixture whose ingredients usually include chile peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries, and ajwain. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia and Eritrea (this is a newer country that borders Ethiopia). Basically, African cuisine with a good degree of spice.
The blend that I was using, when I gave it a good sniff, you could easily smell the cloves and allspice. Rue, or rue berries come from the rue plant. I have a very large herb garden, and I used to grow rue in it, not to eat but it would keep many pesky insects off the other herbs, especially basil. So I was familiar with this one. The berries when dried, looked like reddish peppercorns, and have a bitter, slightly musky scent. It is quite popular in African cooking as well as some parts of Italy. Ajwain is a seed spice that has a rather parsley quality to it.
My blend also didn't have the chile peppers ground, but looked like the red pepper you would shake on your pizza which I use in cooking all the time.
I decided to take the pork ribs and use this spice as a dry rub, marinating it for about 30 minutes at room temperature while I got the other ingredients for dinner together.
Slightly spicy entree with the cinnamon and cloves did scream for something starchy to take the edge off. Again in the larder and I found polenta.
Dinner :
Berbere crusted grilled boneless pork ribs with Parmesan and cream- soft polenta and green beans.
Grilling the pork ribs was definitely the way to go. They were very juicy, somewhat spicy and grilling them let the berbere crust them in a way that I definitely would repeat.
Try the Berbere spice. If you should cause to purchase some it will probably be worth the spice amount you will spend. My family definitely liked the entree and felt it did go well with the polenta (and usually I'm the only one who likes the polenta - me and the dog). This spice would definitely work well with chicken, turkey and probably duck as well. I think it would fight with beef.
If anyone else has recipes using this I would love to hear them, post or email as you feel led.
Till next week.... DP
The other day I was just sharking the kitchen. That's what I call it. Envision yourself going from cabinet to cabinet, in and out of the refrigerator, with the theme from the movie "Jaws" playing in your head. Yes, that is what I was doing. I had no idea what to cook and unfortunately for me I was legitimately hungry which creates another problem. I'm probably willing to eat stupid things rather than having a plan and executing some really creative dish.
I fought the urge to just eat cold cereal and milk as yes, I do have a family to feed as well. I asked them for input but, NO ONE WOULD HELP ME!!
Go and shark the freezer.
After a few minutes there, and I do have some really interesting things in my freezer, I found some boneless pork ribs. I defrosted them (I use the microwave partially, then place them on one of those defrosting trays made of black metal - they really do work). And then went looking in the larder for suggestions of what to do. My eyes wandered around a bit and then fell on the jars that I just got at Whole Foods. One of the was: Berbere.
According to Wikipedia: Berbere is a spice mixture whose ingredients usually include chile peppers, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries, and ajwain. It is a key ingredient in the cuisines of Ethiopia and Eritrea (this is a newer country that borders Ethiopia). Basically, African cuisine with a good degree of spice.
The blend that I was using, when I gave it a good sniff, you could easily smell the cloves and allspice. Rue, or rue berries come from the rue plant. I have a very large herb garden, and I used to grow rue in it, not to eat but it would keep many pesky insects off the other herbs, especially basil. So I was familiar with this one. The berries when dried, looked like reddish peppercorns, and have a bitter, slightly musky scent. It is quite popular in African cooking as well as some parts of Italy. Ajwain is a seed spice that has a rather parsley quality to it.
My blend also didn't have the chile peppers ground, but looked like the red pepper you would shake on your pizza which I use in cooking all the time.
I decided to take the pork ribs and use this spice as a dry rub, marinating it for about 30 minutes at room temperature while I got the other ingredients for dinner together.
Slightly spicy entree with the cinnamon and cloves did scream for something starchy to take the edge off. Again in the larder and I found polenta.
Dinner :
Berbere crusted grilled boneless pork ribs with Parmesan and cream- soft polenta and green beans.
Grilling the pork ribs was definitely the way to go. They were very juicy, somewhat spicy and grilling them let the berbere crust them in a way that I definitely would repeat.
Try the Berbere spice. If you should cause to purchase some it will probably be worth the spice amount you will spend. My family definitely liked the entree and felt it did go well with the polenta (and usually I'm the only one who likes the polenta - me and the dog). This spice would definitely work well with chicken, turkey and probably duck as well. I think it would fight with beef.
If anyone else has recipes using this I would love to hear them, post or email as you feel led.
Till next week.... DP
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Why Can't I have a Whole Foods Market?
Hi
I'm feeling green today in honor of my friend's birthday and its her favorite color.... Hello Elaine.
I was in New Jersey the other day, not unusual for me even though I live almost a hundred miles NORTH of Manhattan. And while I was there, I used the navagation application on my phone. (no, I don't have an iPhone, big mistake, anything else is really secondary and I will get an iPhone as soon as my current contract expires...sorry, I digress).
I looked up how far away was the closest Whole Foods Market. Now some of you have Whole Foods near you... lucky people. I see them all the time on Top Chef. That's where they shop. So I found out that where I was it was 9.7 miles away. Navigate I go.
It was worth the trip.
Now I will not say I bought a lot of things, I was not in a position at that time to purchase much groceries, but I found some lovely additions to my larder.
Meyer lemon olive oil....they actually use the lemons, probably the skins or rinds, and squeeze them at the same time they do the olives. I am so looking forward to my next purchase of Arctic char to use this.
Yuzu rice vinegar. I have heard of Yuzu all over the Food Network. I don't know about you, but there aren't any Yuzu trees growing in upstate New York, nor are there Yuzu's in the local grocery stores, nor are Yuzu juices offered anywhere. Not even in our fancy pants local place (you know the kind, they have all the "fancy" ingredients and charge double for them then you'd pay even with the additional mailing cost if you purchased directly from Dean and Deluca). But, in my quest to support local business, I do go there rather than mail order, anything that I can. If I didn't, they wouldn't be there, and wouldn't that be worse? But, no Yuzu anything. I'm not really sure how I want to use the vinegar, but giving it a try will be interesting.
Ras el Hanout....yes, a real package of the stuff. Quite a bit actually and for not more than most other things cost in the spice aisle. The ingredients are on the label and I am going to make the blend that I am considering, and will compare it to this commercial one. I love tests like this.
Berbere...from the same company as the Ras el Hanout. The label on the ras el hanout called it a Moroccan spice, this one was called an African spice. HELLO??? Isn't MOROCCO IN AFRICA??? I already covered that before. I am going to spend some time with this spice as well.
I have send an email and several messages to Whole Foods about why the closest one to my home is over 40 miles away.
I live within 10 miles of the Culinary Institute of America. The bastion of foodiedom. Where foodies go to become foodies. The mecca of chefs!! Wouldn't you think some place like Whole Foods would want to be near the CIA????
I'll get off my band wagon.
I have a busy next couple of days, a death of a friends father, wake and funeral to attend to. Once that has finished and the schedule settles down, my stab at ras el hanout and the comparison to do.
Berbere next....
DP
I'm feeling green today in honor of my friend's birthday and its her favorite color.... Hello Elaine.
I was in New Jersey the other day, not unusual for me even though I live almost a hundred miles NORTH of Manhattan. And while I was there, I used the navagation application on my phone. (no, I don't have an iPhone, big mistake, anything else is really secondary and I will get an iPhone as soon as my current contract expires...sorry, I digress).
I looked up how far away was the closest Whole Foods Market. Now some of you have Whole Foods near you... lucky people. I see them all the time on Top Chef. That's where they shop. So I found out that where I was it was 9.7 miles away. Navigate I go.
It was worth the trip.
Now I will not say I bought a lot of things, I was not in a position at that time to purchase much groceries, but I found some lovely additions to my larder.
Meyer lemon olive oil....they actually use the lemons, probably the skins or rinds, and squeeze them at the same time they do the olives. I am so looking forward to my next purchase of Arctic char to use this.
Yuzu rice vinegar. I have heard of Yuzu all over the Food Network. I don't know about you, but there aren't any Yuzu trees growing in upstate New York, nor are there Yuzu's in the local grocery stores, nor are Yuzu juices offered anywhere. Not even in our fancy pants local place (you know the kind, they have all the "fancy" ingredients and charge double for them then you'd pay even with the additional mailing cost if you purchased directly from Dean and Deluca). But, in my quest to support local business, I do go there rather than mail order, anything that I can. If I didn't, they wouldn't be there, and wouldn't that be worse? But, no Yuzu anything. I'm not really sure how I want to use the vinegar, but giving it a try will be interesting.
Ras el Hanout....yes, a real package of the stuff. Quite a bit actually and for not more than most other things cost in the spice aisle. The ingredients are on the label and I am going to make the blend that I am considering, and will compare it to this commercial one. I love tests like this.
Berbere...from the same company as the Ras el Hanout. The label on the ras el hanout called it a Moroccan spice, this one was called an African spice. HELLO??? Isn't MOROCCO IN AFRICA??? I already covered that before. I am going to spend some time with this spice as well.
I have send an email and several messages to Whole Foods about why the closest one to my home is over 40 miles away.
I live within 10 miles of the Culinary Institute of America. The bastion of foodiedom. Where foodies go to become foodies. The mecca of chefs!! Wouldn't you think some place like Whole Foods would want to be near the CIA????
I'll get off my band wagon.
I have a busy next couple of days, a death of a friends father, wake and funeral to attend to. Once that has finished and the schedule settles down, my stab at ras el hanout and the comparison to do.
Berbere next....
DP
Monday, August 31, 2009
Scones and Daily Life
You know what never makes any sense to me? Biscuits like hockey pucks.
We had a guest in the house from Friday morning to Sunday morning and when my son and his friend woke up on Saturday, I had the sudden realization that I had nothing really to feed them for breakfast. Teens and no breakfast cereal, not a good move. Since I really didn't want to give them more money to walk to our local deli for food, I decided to make some biscuits. I'm thinking, buttery, flaky, slightly sweet, etc. Who wouldn't want to eat those for breakfast right? WRONG. Hockey pucks. Yes, I confess, I did use biscuit mix. (And no, not the name brand one, but the slightly off name brand one). But that shouldn't matter. I used biscuit mix. To make, oh yes, biscuits. And they were hockey pucks. (word to the wise, teens eat them anyway). But I was disappointed and not about to let this go.
This opened up a two day hunt for biscuit recipes, which it turns out, wasn't what I really wanted, I wanted scones. True British biscuits, lovely flaky texture, and ....flavor. What flavor? I Googled scones and many hundred thousand web pages opened up to me. I decided to go to just one area and make a full search to see if I could find what I wanted.
I decided, since the search seemed endless, to stay for some time on Recipezaar. If you haven't been there yet, do so. It is not necessarily "the" website for professional chefs to find the newest, and best thing for the restaurant. But it is a great place for the home cook. These are the recipes people share with their friends, give out at pot luck suppers and give as gifts. Some require some tweaking as what one man deems "wonderful", another will say "tolerable", and if you are a professional, you probably can see where the flaws in the recipes are. I could. I also was amazed at the choices and things you could find. Also, just because a recipe "looks" weird, don't dismiss it completely. Remember some of the things grandma used to make? You'll probably find that recipe here.
I entered scones in their easy to use search feature and came up with 871 recipes. And I did at least read all of the titles. I could have narrowed the search down, but I wanted to look at some of the ideas for scone flavors. I was surprised first, at what some people consider scones to be. Some were really just cookies, and others were really biscuits. But I got many ideas and even tried a few.
I did for their second morning, make the kids Gingerbread scones. Not a bad idea in theory but I had a few execution problems. I used Organic Pastry flour (my brand turns out to be a very fine grind whole wheat flour) but without correcting and adding some white flour with it, or adjusting the liquids, they came out a little heavy. I liked them, but it was not the texture that I was after. I also found many recipes for a gingerbread type item and the spices were all over the place. I used proportions that at the time seemed ok, but in actuality, with the whole wheat flour, were a bit spicy. Luckily, as I said, teen boys will eat anything anyway.
The recipe below, copied directly from Recipezaar, was my favorite (and I will explain at the end what I did differently - I cannot leave anything alone).
http://www.recipezaar.com/Glazed-Lemon-Scones-202220
Glazed Lemon Scones
Recipe #202220 45 min 30 min prep
8 to 12 scones
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
yellow food coloring (optional)
grated lemon zest
slivered almond
Directions
1Preheat oven to 400°.
2In a big bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; cut in the butter using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in lemon zest and blend.
3In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, and lemon juice; pour into flour mixture; mix until blended and moistened and a soft dough is formed.
4Place dough on a floured work surface; knead 15-20 times and roll into a circle ¾-inch thick.
5Place on baking sheet; score into 8-12 wedges with the point of a sharp knife.
6Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown; cool slightly on wire rack; cut into wedges as marked and serve warm.
7The glaze: in a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice; add in desired amount of food coloring (if using); drizzle over warm scones; sprinkle with lemon zest and almonds.
Personally, I skipped the almonds and the food coloring. I added a teaspoon of vanilla as I really like the vanilla undertones with lemon. I gently formed the mixture into a rectangle which I cut into six squares and then cut them diagonally into triangles. I baked them off as triangles and not one single round to be cut after baking. The recipe made twelve. I used the glaze, and did glaze them when slightly warm.
These scones had a nice soft texture and lemony flavor. I do think the lemon flavor could be boosted a bit so next time I plan on adding a tablespoon of lemon vodka. it is unbelieveable how much of a flavor boost that will give this recipe.
ENJOY.
I haven't forgotten... I'm still researching ras el hanout. I am close to developing my own recipe so I will share it as soon as I can road test it.
We had a guest in the house from Friday morning to Sunday morning and when my son and his friend woke up on Saturday, I had the sudden realization that I had nothing really to feed them for breakfast. Teens and no breakfast cereal, not a good move. Since I really didn't want to give them more money to walk to our local deli for food, I decided to make some biscuits. I'm thinking, buttery, flaky, slightly sweet, etc. Who wouldn't want to eat those for breakfast right? WRONG. Hockey pucks. Yes, I confess, I did use biscuit mix. (And no, not the name brand one, but the slightly off name brand one). But that shouldn't matter. I used biscuit mix. To make, oh yes, biscuits. And they were hockey pucks. (word to the wise, teens eat them anyway). But I was disappointed and not about to let this go.
This opened up a two day hunt for biscuit recipes, which it turns out, wasn't what I really wanted, I wanted scones. True British biscuits, lovely flaky texture, and ....flavor. What flavor? I Googled scones and many hundred thousand web pages opened up to me. I decided to go to just one area and make a full search to see if I could find what I wanted.
I decided, since the search seemed endless, to stay for some time on Recipezaar. If you haven't been there yet, do so. It is not necessarily "the" website for professional chefs to find the newest, and best thing for the restaurant. But it is a great place for the home cook. These are the recipes people share with their friends, give out at pot luck suppers and give as gifts. Some require some tweaking as what one man deems "wonderful", another will say "tolerable", and if you are a professional, you probably can see where the flaws in the recipes are. I could. I also was amazed at the choices and things you could find. Also, just because a recipe "looks" weird, don't dismiss it completely. Remember some of the things grandma used to make? You'll probably find that recipe here.
I entered scones in their easy to use search feature and came up with 871 recipes. And I did at least read all of the titles. I could have narrowed the search down, but I wanted to look at some of the ideas for scone flavors. I was surprised first, at what some people consider scones to be. Some were really just cookies, and others were really biscuits. But I got many ideas and even tried a few.
I did for their second morning, make the kids Gingerbread scones. Not a bad idea in theory but I had a few execution problems. I used Organic Pastry flour (my brand turns out to be a very fine grind whole wheat flour) but without correcting and adding some white flour with it, or adjusting the liquids, they came out a little heavy. I liked them, but it was not the texture that I was after. I also found many recipes for a gingerbread type item and the spices were all over the place. I used proportions that at the time seemed ok, but in actuality, with the whole wheat flour, were a bit spicy. Luckily, as I said, teen boys will eat anything anyway.
The recipe below, copied directly from Recipezaar, was my favorite (and I will explain at the end what I did differently - I cannot leave anything alone).
http://www.recipezaar.com/Glazed-Lemon-Scones-202220
Glazed Lemon Scones
Recipe #202220 45 min 30 min prep
8 to 12 scones
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
yellow food coloring (optional)
grated lemon zest
slivered almond
Directions
1Preheat oven to 400°.
2In a big bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; cut in the butter using a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in lemon zest and blend.
3In another bowl, whisk egg, milk, and lemon juice; pour into flour mixture; mix until blended and moistened and a soft dough is formed.
4Place dough on a floured work surface; knead 15-20 times and roll into a circle ¾-inch thick.
5Place on baking sheet; score into 8-12 wedges with the point of a sharp knife.
6Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown; cool slightly on wire rack; cut into wedges as marked and serve warm.
7The glaze: in a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice; add in desired amount of food coloring (if using); drizzle over warm scones; sprinkle with lemon zest and almonds.
Personally, I skipped the almonds and the food coloring. I added a teaspoon of vanilla as I really like the vanilla undertones with lemon. I gently formed the mixture into a rectangle which I cut into six squares and then cut them diagonally into triangles. I baked them off as triangles and not one single round to be cut after baking. The recipe made twelve. I used the glaze, and did glaze them when slightly warm.
These scones had a nice soft texture and lemony flavor. I do think the lemon flavor could be boosted a bit so next time I plan on adding a tablespoon of lemon vodka. it is unbelieveable how much of a flavor boost that will give this recipe.
ENJOY.
I haven't forgotten... I'm still researching ras el hanout. I am close to developing my own recipe so I will share it as soon as I can road test it.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Ras el hanout - spice to try
Hi,
Some time ago I watched some back episodes of Top Chef. I'm such a sucker, and knowing the new season opened this past week I kind of had this episode in the back of my mind. Anyway, I was very interested in something that was said by Richard Blais. He made a protein dish (which I'm sorry now that I don't remember it), but the spice mix he commented on was called ras el hanout.
Ras el hanout. I remember from what he said, and having some knowledge of food that this is Moroccan in origin, but I am not sure exactly what is in this spice mixture. I do remember the judges liking it very much and him using it more than once during the show.
Something for me to look up. I so love to do research.
I also know that Jamie Lauren on season five of Top Chef used a spice mix at Gail Simmons' bridal shower called vaudovan. This one is Indian. Something else for me to try when I'm done with ras el hanout.
I'm still looking for interesting things to try and new foods not just new spices. I'm open to suggestions to anyone who wants to send me some.
You may feel free to email suggestions or post them here.
Email: dpchef1023@yahoo.com
Some time ago I watched some back episodes of Top Chef. I'm such a sucker, and knowing the new season opened this past week I kind of had this episode in the back of my mind. Anyway, I was very interested in something that was said by Richard Blais. He made a protein dish (which I'm sorry now that I don't remember it), but the spice mix he commented on was called ras el hanout.
Ras el hanout. I remember from what he said, and having some knowledge of food that this is Moroccan in origin, but I am not sure exactly what is in this spice mixture. I do remember the judges liking it very much and him using it more than once during the show.
Something for me to look up. I so love to do research.
I also know that Jamie Lauren on season five of Top Chef used a spice mix at Gail Simmons' bridal shower called vaudovan. This one is Indian. Something else for me to try when I'm done with ras el hanout.
I'm still looking for interesting things to try and new foods not just new spices. I'm open to suggestions to anyone who wants to send me some.
You may feel free to email suggestions or post them here.
Email: dpchef1023@yahoo.com
Friday, August 21, 2009
Results of Merguez Sausage trials and life....
Hi...
Its been a busy period for me... It's unfortunate but sometimes life interferes and doesn't allow you to do what you want, but you have to do what you need. A time of work interrupted my usual summer break (I teach therefore I am off during the summer) and at times am called in to do a few things. Enough said.
I took the four recipes that I referenced before and tried them, all at once. My family is used to the taste test routine around here. "Oh you think this is bad, you should have been here for the beurre blanc period!" is what my husband was saying. I was perfecting my technique on what is usually a difficult sauce and tried it, probably every night, for about a month. We were slithering around from all the butter we were ingesting, but I nailed it, and never broke it once at the restaurant because of it. Practice does make perfect, especially when it comes to sauce making.
I will break down the recipes I tried here:
1. The Gutsy gourmet recipe used lamb trim. I don't have a grinder at home - here's the meat grinder thing: I went to a restaurant supply store, the only one near me, and purchased one. I got it home and tried to assemble it and the handle wouldn't go onto the post which it needed to do to operate. I know I'm blonde, but I can assemble a simple meat grinder...the table clamp type. Anyway, I asked my husband to look at it too, and he said it was so cheaply made there were parts of metal from the dipping it took in lead paint in China where it was made that the points of metal stuck out so far you couldn't assemble the handle onto it without breaking it. Back to the store, and rethinking the meat to use.
So I purchased ground lamb only for all the recipes. This one also used curry powder, cinnamon, thyme, garlic (which I shaved with my microplane) and a few unusual ingredients - currants and pomegranate juice.
2. The recipes from both the Big Oven and Fooddownunder sites were identical so I only made the recipe once. It contained garlic, fresh cilantro and parsley, paprika (2 tbsp), ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. There was quite a bit of paprika and this made the sausage recipe very red. The recipe did call for lean ground lamb and pork or beef fat to be mixed in. As I said, since I didn't have a meat grinder I did use just ground lamb, but I can say I didn't think it was all that lean so I didn't feel adding extra fat was necessary.
3. The recipe from Food Network web site had a slightly different spicing blend too. It started with garlic and fresh cilantro as the others did, and had half the amount of paprika so it wasn't as red overall. There was also ground cumin and coriander but removed the cinnamon of the other and added allspice instead, and had the addition of red wine vinegar as well.
All three recipes were made into slider sized portions (I got 8 sliders from each 1.2-1.4 pounds of meat that came in the packages, and the recipes were adjusted from it originals so the original spicing proportions were maintained).
My family loved, surprising to me, the strongest spiced one of all. (This was the recipes from Big Oven and fooddownunder.com)
I felt the ones from Gusty Gourmet were light and sweet and very pleasant tasting, but not probably traditional to what I had been reading about these sausages. I feel regrinding the recipe through the meat grinder would grind up the currants a little and it would help the cohesiveness of it although I enjoyed the currants through the meat.
The recipes from Big Oven/fooddownunder.com were strongly flavored and spicy. Not hot, which can be adjusted by the amount of cayenne, but spicy. My husband's comment was it seemed the most authentically Middle Eastern of them all.
The recipe from the Food Network was not as spicy or strong, the blend seemed to allow the taste of the lamb to come through more. Our general consensus was the spicing seemed to remind us of the meat that comes in the gyro sandwiches (which is a ground meat product as well).
Overall, a good experience. I would make any of these again. Initially, since I ended up making 24, I froze half of them (four from each recipe). I wrapped them using Glad Press and Seal (making them sort of IQF - individually quick frozen), with the intention of transferring them to resealable plastic bags later. Truth be told, they never made it to the plastic bags, my family asked to have them again. (and actually - they don't really like lamb all that much)
Initially when the sausages were at room temperature, I used the instructions in the Big Oven recipe for cooking and timing. They were all nicely cooked, juicy and had a very light spicy crust outside. When I took them from the freezer, I used instructions that you would find on any IQF frozen meatball package, basically 350 degrees for about 20 min or until they are cooked through. (they went into the oven completely frozen). And again, they were nice and juicy but a tiny bit more cooked then when they were cooked from the defrosted state, but still had a slight bit of the spicy crust. Stove top cooking was definitely a better method.
Try these recipes, let me know what you think of them...
Now, looking for the next thing to try...
Its been a busy period for me... It's unfortunate but sometimes life interferes and doesn't allow you to do what you want, but you have to do what you need. A time of work interrupted my usual summer break (I teach therefore I am off during the summer) and at times am called in to do a few things. Enough said.
I took the four recipes that I referenced before and tried them, all at once. My family is used to the taste test routine around here. "Oh you think this is bad, you should have been here for the beurre blanc period!" is what my husband was saying. I was perfecting my technique on what is usually a difficult sauce and tried it, probably every night, for about a month. We were slithering around from all the butter we were ingesting, but I nailed it, and never broke it once at the restaurant because of it. Practice does make perfect, especially when it comes to sauce making.
I will break down the recipes I tried here:
1. The Gutsy gourmet recipe used lamb trim. I don't have a grinder at home - here's the meat grinder thing: I went to a restaurant supply store, the only one near me, and purchased one. I got it home and tried to assemble it and the handle wouldn't go onto the post which it needed to do to operate. I know I'm blonde, but I can assemble a simple meat grinder...the table clamp type. Anyway, I asked my husband to look at it too, and he said it was so cheaply made there were parts of metal from the dipping it took in lead paint in China where it was made that the points of metal stuck out so far you couldn't assemble the handle onto it without breaking it. Back to the store, and rethinking the meat to use.
So I purchased ground lamb only for all the recipes. This one also used curry powder, cinnamon, thyme, garlic (which I shaved with my microplane) and a few unusual ingredients - currants and pomegranate juice.
2. The recipes from both the Big Oven and Fooddownunder sites were identical so I only made the recipe once. It contained garlic, fresh cilantro and parsley, paprika (2 tbsp), ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. There was quite a bit of paprika and this made the sausage recipe very red. The recipe did call for lean ground lamb and pork or beef fat to be mixed in. As I said, since I didn't have a meat grinder I did use just ground lamb, but I can say I didn't think it was all that lean so I didn't feel adding extra fat was necessary.
3. The recipe from Food Network web site had a slightly different spicing blend too. It started with garlic and fresh cilantro as the others did, and had half the amount of paprika so it wasn't as red overall. There was also ground cumin and coriander but removed the cinnamon of the other and added allspice instead, and had the addition of red wine vinegar as well.
All three recipes were made into slider sized portions (I got 8 sliders from each 1.2-1.4 pounds of meat that came in the packages, and the recipes were adjusted from it originals so the original spicing proportions were maintained).
My family loved, surprising to me, the strongest spiced one of all. (This was the recipes from Big Oven and fooddownunder.com)
I felt the ones from Gusty Gourmet were light and sweet and very pleasant tasting, but not probably traditional to what I had been reading about these sausages. I feel regrinding the recipe through the meat grinder would grind up the currants a little and it would help the cohesiveness of it although I enjoyed the currants through the meat.
The recipes from Big Oven/fooddownunder.com were strongly flavored and spicy. Not hot, which can be adjusted by the amount of cayenne, but spicy. My husband's comment was it seemed the most authentically Middle Eastern of them all.
The recipe from the Food Network was not as spicy or strong, the blend seemed to allow the taste of the lamb to come through more. Our general consensus was the spicing seemed to remind us of the meat that comes in the gyro sandwiches (which is a ground meat product as well).
Overall, a good experience. I would make any of these again. Initially, since I ended up making 24, I froze half of them (four from each recipe). I wrapped them using Glad Press and Seal (making them sort of IQF - individually quick frozen), with the intention of transferring them to resealable plastic bags later. Truth be told, they never made it to the plastic bags, my family asked to have them again. (and actually - they don't really like lamb all that much)
Initially when the sausages were at room temperature, I used the instructions in the Big Oven recipe for cooking and timing. They were all nicely cooked, juicy and had a very light spicy crust outside. When I took them from the freezer, I used instructions that you would find on any IQF frozen meatball package, basically 350 degrees for about 20 min or until they are cooked through. (they went into the oven completely frozen). And again, they were nice and juicy but a tiny bit more cooked then when they were cooked from the defrosted state, but still had a slight bit of the spicy crust. Stove top cooking was definitely a better method.
Try these recipes, let me know what you think of them...
Now, looking for the next thing to try...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Item of interest: Merguez Sausages
I love TIVO. It facinates me that something that has never met me can find programming that it thinks I might like and record it for me. Originally, when we got our TIVO unit, I was worried that it might be a little intrusive, somewhat 1984ish, but I have gotten over it. Especially since it finds me new cooking shows to watch. I digress again.
Speaking of cooking shows, I was watching a taped episode of "Chopped", a Food Network production this morning. If you have never seen it, the basic premise is four chefs cook in a series of three rounds, Appetizer, Entree and Dessert from a basket containing some mystery ingredients. These ingredients are the same for all of the chefs but usually one of the ingredients doesn't really "go" with the others. You have to use all the ingredients in the basket, even if it is only a very small amount. You may add to the ingredients from a common pantry. The hard part is trying to make a cohesive and tasty dish that is better than everyone elses dish. The time limitations are extreme. The dishes are judged by a panel of judges and after each round one chef is eliminated or "chopped" as they say. The last man standing becomes the "Chopped Champion" and wins a hefty $10K. Not bad for a days work. I like this program as well as any of the more unscripted ones because it fascinates me (I think in my head what I would do in that situation) but more of the time there is an unusual ingredient that I might not have had. Today was that day.
There was an ingredient in the appetizer round that was called Merguez sausages. Hum. I hadn't heard of them before and was intrigued. After the chefs started cooking one of the judges described them as moroccan sausages usually made with a high percentage of lamb and the rest I believe he said was beef.
Time for research.
I Googled Moroccan sausage because by the time I got to do it, I forgot to write the name down and was doing so by memory. I came up with a few websites of interest.
1) The Gutsy gourmet
http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/af-sausage.html
This one seems a bit unusual to me. The actual sausage is all lamb, has curry powder and a few ingredients like pomegranate juice and currants for some sweetness. I'm not sure about it but it seems like it might be worth a try. I like the idea of the sweet and spicy combination.
2) Food Down Under .com
http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=121736
This one has about a third ground fat and two thirds ground lamb. Might be a bit for my personal palate even if pork fat does rule I don't usually want that high of a fat blend in my food. It would really depend on the fat and of the specific lamb cut involved. This one has cilantro in it (an interesting choice) and also with coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Aside from the fat amount it will be worth a second look.
3)Big Oven
I love this web site, I spend a lot of time with it on my iPod touch. This particular recipe found at http://www.bigoven.com/private/sec/printrecipe.aspx?id=94212
It has the same fat/meat distribution as the one above and gives its credit to a Joyce Goldstein from a newspaper in Minneapolis/St. Paul in an article called "The Mediterranean Kitchen". I think that's my problem with this recipe in general. More of what I would call Mediterranean then what I would call Moroccan.
But wait a minute..... Isn't Morocco in the Mediterranean but on the southern side???
Confused I Googled that. (is Googled a real word? Is it capitalized???) Morocco is in Africa with Algeria on its East and it is south of Spain. The northern most part is near the strait of Gibraltar which divides the Atlantic Ocean on Morocco's west with the Mediterranean Sea which is on its north east side. So that explains some of the crossover. Partly Spanish. Partly north African. Partly Mediterranean. Interesting. Fusion cuisine at its best...
4)This one popped up on the Food Network website: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tori-ritchie/moroccan-lamb-sausage-patties-recipe/index.html
It is all lamb but indicates not too lean. Adds some vinegar and it exchanges the cinnamon for an allspice used here. I might like that a little better but I do like cinnamon in my meat blends. Again something that is worth trying. I didn't recognize Tori Ritchie's name. Back to Google.
She apparently hosts a show called "Ultimate Kitchens" which currently airs on the Fine Living Network. Ooooh. another show to check out.
So here are several options, some of them similar. I will be going to the local farmers market on Thursday for heirloom tomatoes so I can pick up some ground lamb at the supermarket (or if not some lamb and grind my own) and try this, but I might divide the mixtures and try several versions at once. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tomorrow is a long day, I will be working. I will post if I can.
Soon....
DP
Speaking of cooking shows, I was watching a taped episode of "Chopped", a Food Network production this morning. If you have never seen it, the basic premise is four chefs cook in a series of three rounds, Appetizer, Entree and Dessert from a basket containing some mystery ingredients. These ingredients are the same for all of the chefs but usually one of the ingredients doesn't really "go" with the others. You have to use all the ingredients in the basket, even if it is only a very small amount. You may add to the ingredients from a common pantry. The hard part is trying to make a cohesive and tasty dish that is better than everyone elses dish. The time limitations are extreme. The dishes are judged by a panel of judges and after each round one chef is eliminated or "chopped" as they say. The last man standing becomes the "Chopped Champion" and wins a hefty $10K. Not bad for a days work. I like this program as well as any of the more unscripted ones because it fascinates me (I think in my head what I would do in that situation) but more of the time there is an unusual ingredient that I might not have had. Today was that day.
There was an ingredient in the appetizer round that was called Merguez sausages. Hum. I hadn't heard of them before and was intrigued. After the chefs started cooking one of the judges described them as moroccan sausages usually made with a high percentage of lamb and the rest I believe he said was beef.
Time for research.
I Googled Moroccan sausage because by the time I got to do it, I forgot to write the name down and was doing so by memory. I came up with a few websites of interest.
1) The Gutsy gourmet
http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/af-sausage.html
This one seems a bit unusual to me. The actual sausage is all lamb, has curry powder and a few ingredients like pomegranate juice and currants for some sweetness. I'm not sure about it but it seems like it might be worth a try. I like the idea of the sweet and spicy combination.
2) Food Down Under .com
http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=121736
This one has about a third ground fat and two thirds ground lamb. Might be a bit for my personal palate even if pork fat does rule I don't usually want that high of a fat blend in my food. It would really depend on the fat and of the specific lamb cut involved. This one has cilantro in it (an interesting choice) and also with coriander, cumin and cinnamon. Aside from the fat amount it will be worth a second look.
3)Big Oven
I love this web site, I spend a lot of time with it on my iPod touch. This particular recipe found at http://www.bigoven.com/private/sec/printrecipe.aspx?id=94212
It has the same fat/meat distribution as the one above and gives its credit to a Joyce Goldstein from a newspaper in Minneapolis/St. Paul in an article called "The Mediterranean Kitchen". I think that's my problem with this recipe in general. More of what I would call Mediterranean then what I would call Moroccan.
But wait a minute..... Isn't Morocco in the Mediterranean but on the southern side???
Confused I Googled that. (is Googled a real word? Is it capitalized???) Morocco is in Africa with Algeria on its East and it is south of Spain. The northern most part is near the strait of Gibraltar which divides the Atlantic Ocean on Morocco's west with the Mediterranean Sea which is on its north east side. So that explains some of the crossover. Partly Spanish. Partly north African. Partly Mediterranean. Interesting. Fusion cuisine at its best...
4)This one popped up on the Food Network website: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tori-ritchie/moroccan-lamb-sausage-patties-recipe/index.html
It is all lamb but indicates not too lean. Adds some vinegar and it exchanges the cinnamon for an allspice used here. I might like that a little better but I do like cinnamon in my meat blends. Again something that is worth trying. I didn't recognize Tori Ritchie's name. Back to Google.
She apparently hosts a show called "Ultimate Kitchens" which currently airs on the Fine Living Network. Ooooh. another show to check out.
So here are several options, some of them similar. I will be going to the local farmers market on Thursday for heirloom tomatoes so I can pick up some ground lamb at the supermarket (or if not some lamb and grind my own) and try this, but I might divide the mixtures and try several versions at once. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tomorrow is a long day, I will be working. I will post if I can.
Soon....
DP
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A New Challenge
I decided to start this blog because of a question that I had for my Facebook friends. Is there anything really new in food anymore? Are there any really new foods or food combinations? Are there any new cooking methods? Or am I just missing something?
I posted this question/challenge to my friends... between now and the end of the year can you find five things that you have never eaten. Or maybe have eaten in a different form but have read about a new cooking method for this food. That kind of thing. And cook, eat or taste these things and write to me about your experiences. My challenge to myself is to actually find five things. I really do believe that I personally have tried just about everything. (yes I have eaten Natto, and no I have not tried Durian (sp?) but that isn't exactly available in New York.)
For those not familiar with me I go by the nickname DP so that is how I will be known here. (that is really what most of my friends call me). I have had probably upwards of a half dozen or more careers over my longer than I wish to admit it lifetime but several of them have had a major impact on me. I am a doctor...yes I said doctor. I am a Registered Nurse. I am a teacher. I have worked at all of these full time. I currently work as a teacher by choice.
But my passion is : I am a die-hard foodie, and have been so for years. I am also a Professional Chef. I have had many positions in the cooking field, mostly as a Pastry Chef, but have worked on lines in several restaurants. (I left cooking primarily to have my son). But cooking and food are really more of my passion.
I know I said I feel that there is nothing that I haven't tried, but I know from reading many chefs publications, following cooking professionally, and still working at some catering, keeping my hand in it so to speak...that there are many things I would like to try or learn. I am not too familiar or comfortable with some of the molecular gastronomy techniques that are out there. From one perspective aren't these just different methods of cooking or showcasing food that we have already tried? But these new methods and ideas can take the food to a completely different level gastronomically speaking...something that can take a mundane item and make it sing, soar, or elevate it into just another dimension...I digress.
So...YOU that are out there? What have you tried lately? What techniques can you share? What new foods have you tried and loved, hated, or just have an opinion about that you want to share?
I would like to listen and share with you. And I will work on finding my five new items for this year.
Tomorrow....
DP
I posted this question/challenge to my friends... between now and the end of the year can you find five things that you have never eaten. Or maybe have eaten in a different form but have read about a new cooking method for this food. That kind of thing. And cook, eat or taste these things and write to me about your experiences. My challenge to myself is to actually find five things. I really do believe that I personally have tried just about everything. (yes I have eaten Natto, and no I have not tried Durian (sp?) but that isn't exactly available in New York.)
For those not familiar with me I go by the nickname DP so that is how I will be known here. (that is really what most of my friends call me). I have had probably upwards of a half dozen or more careers over my longer than I wish to admit it lifetime but several of them have had a major impact on me. I am a doctor...yes I said doctor. I am a Registered Nurse. I am a teacher. I have worked at all of these full time. I currently work as a teacher by choice.
But my passion is : I am a die-hard foodie, and have been so for years. I am also a Professional Chef. I have had many positions in the cooking field, mostly as a Pastry Chef, but have worked on lines in several restaurants. (I left cooking primarily to have my son). But cooking and food are really more of my passion.
I know I said I feel that there is nothing that I haven't tried, but I know from reading many chefs publications, following cooking professionally, and still working at some catering, keeping my hand in it so to speak...that there are many things I would like to try or learn. I am not too familiar or comfortable with some of the molecular gastronomy techniques that are out there. From one perspective aren't these just different methods of cooking or showcasing food that we have already tried? But these new methods and ideas can take the food to a completely different level gastronomically speaking...something that can take a mundane item and make it sing, soar, or elevate it into just another dimension...I digress.
So...YOU that are out there? What have you tried lately? What techniques can you share? What new foods have you tried and loved, hated, or just have an opinion about that you want to share?
I would like to listen and share with you. And I will work on finding my five new items for this year.
Tomorrow....
DP
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