How to Chop an Onion

It seems like in almost every cooking course I take or hands-on class I do, I end up chopping onions.  Even a volunteer project I participated on has us processing large, industrial bags of them for soup or other meal prep.  To say I’ve become a semi-pro at it might be bragging a bit, but a few months ago, I realized that I was demo-ing this technique to others frequently.  I thought that a set of instructions would make a good addition to the list of Kitchen Witch Tips on the site.

Challah French Toast Stuffed with Cranberry-Orange Relish

Finally, after having digested my post-Thanksgiving binge of Food Network programming, I can once again face my stack of holiday food magazines and think about planning some new meals. Having seen an overwhelming number of suggestions and preparations for holiday leftovers, the one that really stood out wasn’t the “101 ways to make last night’s mashed potatoes appetizing again.”

It was, instead, a segment that appeared on Thanksgiving weekend Friday on The Today Show. Tyler Florence was demonstrating to Lester Holt how to make Stuffed French Toast using challah and leftover cranberry sauce from a can. Stuffed French Toast is one of those things that I love to get when I eat brunch out someplace, but which I’ve never gotten around to trying to make at home.

 

Stuffed French Toast with Turkey Bacon

Volunteering at God’s Love We Deliver

One of the things I enjoy about living in New York is that there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer with some amazing organizations.  Somehow, though, I’d never really put that energy into food-related projects.  When I joined a new company, I found out that one of my new colleagues manages a monthly volunteer activity for a meal prep non-profit.  Finally, I thought, I could put my culinary interest to some good use.  

 

I signed up to help out at one of these that serves food to those who cannot feed themselves due to severe and debilitating illness. Many corporations put together one-off or regular sessions with God’s Love We Deliver, based in Soho.  Our regular shift for few hours one Sunday afternoon a month help to make sure that the raw ingredients of what goes into many meals are ready for the cooks that the organization employs.  The volunteers don’t usually do any of the actual cooking, but here are some of the fruits of our labors on our recent visit:

Chopping away at the Carrots

 

Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame

I knew from the first minute I woke up yesterday morning that it was raining outside.  I could hear the sloshy sound of cars traveling on the streets, water spitting out from under their wheels.  What a great excuse to lie around in bed all day, but there were things to do.  Instead, I threw back my fluffy duvet and rolled myself out of bed, literally.

 

Croque Monsieur

Stumbling to the kitchen, still a bit bleary-eyed, I opened the fridge.  Hmm, let’s see, there’s ham, cheese, milk, butter, eggs, and I know I have bread in the freezer; these are all the makings for a Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame.  This is one of my favorite all-time, top 5 sandwiches.  Toasted bread, ham, melted cheese, and béchamel, lightly grilled making it melty and gooey.  

 

Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Sandwich with Homemade Mayonnaise

As you may have read on the previous post, I went a bit tomato crazy in August.  It’s just so hard not to, with such gorgeous specimens available.  And the flavors are amazing.  I wondered if, using only Greenmarket produce, how would these be on a BLT.  I’m not a giant fan of BLTs, mostly because I find that people put globs of mayonnaise on it, which I find kind of icky. 

Mayonnaise is one of those food items that I have a conflicted relationship with. The smell of a knife having been used to spread mayo and left in the kitchen sink makes my stomach turn.  I can’t stand the way it makes bread all spongy or the sight of oozy white stuff in tuna or chicken salad.  Mayo on fries, don’t even get me started on how repulsive that is to me.

Maybe I would change my mind, if I made the condiment myself, I thought.  I looked up a few recipes, read a few sets of instructions, and thought, “I can do this, easy-peasy.”  Well, it wasn’t so simple.  I couldn’t seem to get it to emulsify.  Twice, I tried this and was left with a golden, liquidy mess.  How could this be?

 

Summertime Tomato-Mozzarella Salad Ensalata Caprese

Freshly grown, ripe tomatoes are the essence of summertime’s culinary bounty for me.  In the cycle of the seasons, the end of summer usually brings with it a plethora of tomatoes.  As usual, the Greenmarket is my best friend at this time of year.  Along with my hunt for asparagus and strawberries in their time, when July heads into August my “food radar” becomes attune to seeking out and gathering the freshest, ripest specimens I can locate. 

A great ripe tomato that’s been raised outdoors (not in a greenhouse) smells just like a warm, lazy August day with sunshine, a blue cloudless sky, and the sound of bugs droning in the background.  If you can get the chance to pick one just as it is ready, straight from the vine, you are one of the lucky ones.  Hold it up to your nose and inhale its aromas.  To me, this is its quintessential fragrance: the mellowness of the red with a bit of a sharp tang from the green.  It is the contrast between the smooth roundness of the tomato and the prickly parts of the stalk from which sprung the vine on which it grew.  

 

Old Bay Crabs for Family Gathering 2006

Growing up in a mid-Atlantic seaboard state, Old Bay seasoning was a staple found in everyone’s cupboard, or so it seemed.  It was just natural to find it there (but then, so did was seeing a can for bacon drippings stored in the fridge, as well).  Surprisingly, I don’t have any in my New York kitchen.

 

 

 

I recently got back from spending time in Virginia with my family (always a source of inspiring, if unusual, thoughts), I was wondering if I should do something clever for this post like write an Ode to Old Bay^® Seasoning.  Then, I thought about it and decided that that might just be a little bit too weird so I’ve coming up with this haiku instead:

 

Container yellow, blue, and red

Hiding savory spice blend

To eat with sweet crabmeat

 

While this brief spurt of creative inspiration might seem odd, devotion to this spice mix is very great in some parts of the country.  My brother was even planning to pick up some of it to bring it back to London so that he’s not left empty-handed in case he or his wife gets a craving for a taste of home. 

Let’s Make S’mores!

In case you missed it, this past Thursday, August 10^th, was National S’mores Day. If you type this word string into Google™, you will come up with quite a few references to this tasty, gooey treat as well as some stories about its origins. I will leave all of that, and the link above, to those of you who may wish to explore the history of S’mores in more detail.

 

 The Classic S'more

 

For those of you not familiar with this item, it is a crunchy, gooey, crumbly confection made with graham crackers, chocolate (a Hershey_®’s plain milk chocolate candy bar, to be specific), and marshmallows (toasted, not singed in my book). Its construction is a careful process with the hot marshmallow melting the chocolate and the whole thing held together by the graham crackers on top and bottom.

Reviewing New York Magazine's Cheap Eats 2006

This week’s (July 31-August 7) issue of New York Magazine, which arrived in my mailbox last week, is their annual “Cheap Eats” review.  This year, I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised to see quite a few of my stand-by, Go To restaurants featured.  If you can get your hands on the issue, the food photography is mouth-watering, at least to my eyes, or maybe I was just really, really hungry at the time I was reading the magazine.  

 

As with anything else in New York personal opinions as to what should have made the list will vary widely, and the magazine provides their evaluation criteria in the article.  Caution: this list is not to be read on an empty stomach!  Here are some of my thoughts on their choices (rankings ran from 1-101):

 

Ligurian Style Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans

Happy Anniversary to the Greenmarkets! As both the New York Times and New York Magazine highlight they turn 30 years old this week. In a way, it is hard to imagine the city without these culinary resources, they’ve become something of an institution. Specials and the latest seasonal produce are highlighted on blogs, and new arrivals are heralded in the Dining In section of the Times on Wednesdays. The market has even published its own cookbook.

There, I’ve picked up wonderful cheeses, delicious handmade sausages, great homemade jams, and lovely freshly-baked bread – for toast of course. Plants and flowers dress up the square and the aroma of lilacs during the spring season makes the trip intoxicating as well. Like lots of folks who visit the market on a regular basis, I have my particular favorite vendors that I search out week after week for their wares.

Festival of French Food - Bastille Day Street Fair in NYC

New York summers and street fairs go together like, well, just about anything you can think of to combine. To the uninitiated, these may sound like great fun: food, crafts, vendors, etc. all in a few city blocks. To those who get to live with them, they are experienced with the same measure of ennui and tolerance of the many themed parades that close down Fifth Avenue several times a year. They shut down bus routes, cause detours, change well-laid plans, and cause mounds of frustration.

There is, however, one special fair that takes place each year on a Sunday in mid-July that draws out the folks who most likely don’t usually brave these spectacles. The Alliance Française in New York holds its Bastille Day celebration in Midtown Manhattan, taking over three blocks on 60^th Street. Local proprietors, restaurants and many things French are featured.

Strawberries with Cream and Balsamic Vinegar or Fragole con Panna all’Aceto Balsamico

The last of the farmers’ market strawberries have come and gone for the season.  Each year, as with asparagus, there is the fervor among the food set, especially those who try to eat as seasonally as possible, to hunt out and obtain, for as many weeks as is feasible, locally grown, tangy-sweet, juicy strawberries.

I become obsessed this time of year, waiting, scoping out the markets, eager to catch the new crop and to buy up as many as I can before they are gone. Fresh, seasonal strawberries make my mouth water, as I take that first sweet tart bite.  I cannot be tempted by the ones “as large as my head” (to quote one of my sisters) that one finds in the grocery stores during the rest of the year.

It has been many years since I was able to enjoy the Italian springtime fragole or fragolone (as the larger ones are called).  The ones from the Greenmarket in New York bring back cherished memories of those warm days and even warmer friendships.  I developed this recipe to capture the English fondness for strawberries with cream along with a particularly Northern Italian use of balsamic vinegar.  It is, of course, best when the berries are in peak season. 

 

Summer Salad of Shrimp, Grapes, Toasted Almonds, Lemon Vinaigrette

It’s hot. It’s bloody hot, but at least it’s dry. After lots of rain this week, it’s now really hot outside, just in time for a holiday weekend. Better yet, I feel as though my apartment traps heat so there’s no real escape.

This is the time of year when it is just excruciating to cook. Anything that causes the temperature to rise inside is to be avoided. Greens wilt. Appetites dwindle. Nothing seems appealing.

On the other hand, this is also the time of year when really great produce is available and loads of wonderful fresh fruit is coming into season. I took advantage of the nice weather to check out the newest edition to the farmers’ markets in town.

Peperonata for Bruschetta

Bruschetta tipica
Peperonata con mozzarella e pesto
Gorgonzola con miele

However, for the past few weeks, I feel as though we've been at a standoff, the toaster and me. It is now playing games with me. The plastic level has done summersaults only once. The latest thing is that it isn't really toasting. It comes out that pale shade that others favor.

So, for the moment, I've decided to go off toast, at least with the toaster. I'm going to use the broiler instead. It's a bit trickier to get it to just the right shade of golden brown, but I'm up for the challenge. Besides, that way, I don't have to face my reflexes being assaulted every morning by that wayward lever.

As I was on my toast kick, it made me pull out a few recipes that I had tucked away. With the weather getting warmer, a dinner of various small things, complemented by toasted bread, would make a great entertaining idea (as when a friend of mine and I took some of these things to visit another friend of ours who had just had her first child) or just a wonderful meal al fresco.

A New Toaster

Today’s topic: Shopping for a new toaster. You know how it is, appliances start to die, they don’t work as well, the handle flies off every time it pops up when the toast is done. O.K., maybe that last one hasn’t happened to you, but it’s been going on in my kitchen for a few months.

 

After the first time it happened, I jammed the plastic part onto the metal lever and that seemed to work for a while (sort of like taping things together), but the flying plastic aerobatic act started again this past week. It’s not the most appealing thing to face in the early morning. Dealing with random, unexpected, airborne objects at 6:30 a.m., when I’m trying to fix my breakfast, sort of puts a taint on the whole day.

 

It is possible for me to live without this kitchen accessory. I didn’t have one when I lived in Italy and fared pretty well, but I have to make a confession: I love toast. I love to bite into that crisp, crunchy (usually buttery w/ a hit of sweet jam slathered on it) interior, saving the dark brown, super crunchy exterior for the next taste.

 

Measurements & Conversions: Dry, Liquid, and Oven Temperatures

This list is not exhaustive for all your cooking needs, but it should help you with trying to work with when adapting between various American units of measure, and working out oven temperatures between different heat types.  Measurements Conversion Calculator, an on-line resource, will also assist you to convert recipes between American units and metric ones.   

 

One other thing to consider is that U.S. and UK imperial measurements in older recipes might not be referring to the same volume. Of course, one of my big recommendations to everyone, especially for those who bake, is to use a kitchen scale.  I rely on mine most of the time, even if I do have cups, teaspoons, etc. on hand.

 

Visiting Christchurch New Zealand

Editor's Note: This visit and the post about it were written well before the earthquakes that devastated Christchurch.  Some of these places may no longer exist or be open.

I think we all have them - those quirky things that we do each time we travel. Mine, not surprisingly, have to do with food and eating. It's part of the way that I like to learn about local culture and customs when I'm in a new place.  I love checking out local markets, food shops and kitchenware stores. I always seem to discover new things as well as old favorites along the way. Anything can trigger the need to indulge this habit - a sound, a smell, a sight, a site. Once it hits, there's no turning back.

Literally late last night, I just returned from a week in Christchurch, New Zealand. I haven't done the work to figure it out on a globe yet, but I think I really went about half-way around the world. Why do that to get away from the office, emails, phone calls, everything? Well, there's only one reason aside from work that I would take one taxi, one airport shuttle, and three planes to get anywhere - Family.

Easter Brunch: Sunrise Mimosas and Smoked Salmon Hash

Next Sunday is the Easter holiday for the Christian calendar.  Traditionally it’s a season of new clothes and shoes, big hats, tulips along Park Avenue in New York, and baskets filled with candy.  In our family, as to be expected, there are also a few very specific food-related memories of the season.

 

While visiting family in the Midwest a couple of months ago, I’m not quite sure how the topic got started, but my sisters and I talked about the subject of Easter Sundays gone by and the presents from the Easter Bunny.  Again, this link between food and holidays is very strong, as we discussed those malted milk ball eggs (cleverly disguised as gumballs), green plastic Easter grass stuck to the bottom of the jelly beans, and why we never seem to get the candy we really like (Pez^® = good; marshmallow anything = bad).

 

This year’s Easter Brunch Menu can be a good start to putting all the awful candy memories to rest.  As with the other recipes I’ve posted, part of this can be prepared in advance (even the night before), to save time the day of the event.  Click "Read More" to see the recipes after the jump.

 Easter Brunch Menu

Sunrise Mimosa

Smoked Salmon Hash w/ Eggs

Side Salad or Greens

Your favorite chocolate dessert

Kitchen Witch Tips

For those who read to the bottom of my recipe posts, you’ll have noticed that I’ve been adding a “Kitchen Witch Tips” section to them.  I thought I’d take a little breather from recipes and stories and explain what this (hopefully) practical addition to my blog is designed to contribute.

 

Wikipedia^® defines the Kitchen Witch as:

 

A kitchen witch is a practitioner of magic who uses the tools at hand to work his or her spells and create their rituals. For example, using a kitchen carving knife for an athame, a cast iron pot for a cauldron, etc. Common kitchen herbs frequently have magical uses as well.

 

However, the second paragraph of the description of the term is more what I had in mind when I created this concept as a tag on my blog:

 

Some kitchens have a kitchen witch doll, which is said to prevent burnt pots, keep meals hot and flavorful, and to weave the family together. The kitchen witch doll is often placed over the stove, near the kitchen entrance, or sometimes over a seating area in the kitchen.

 

For those who have read my blog from the beginning, we didn’t have one of these in our home kitchen, otherwise I might not have burned the chocolate I was trying to melt [see Some of My Cooking Experiences].  Some kitchen supply stores sell stuffed dolls in the shape of witches with broomsticks.  I remember being with my mother and asking her about them.  She explained to me the legend along the lines of the second description.

 

“Kitchen Witch Tips” in this blog are designed to be little tidbits or helpers to make your food more flavorful or the process of getting everything to the table a bit smoother.  I hope you enjoy them and find them a welcome addition to your library of culinary knowledge.  .

 

Buon appetito!

How to Timeline Your DIY Taco Bar Meal Prep

More than a couple of people to whom I’ve spoken about this blog have said that what they would really like to know about is putting a menu together as well as the time it takes to have it all get to the table and still be able to enjoy their guests’ company.  Timing seems to be a particularly big theme.

Taking the DIY Taco Bar post along with the posts about making Seven Layer Dip and Tropical Bananas Foster, these can be used to pull together an easy, friendly lunch, brunch, or supper.  So, here’s how I organized the meal prep when I hosted a luncheon for several friends about a month ago using all these recipes.

Tropical Bananas Foster

For the DIY Taco Party that I hosted, I decided to create a dessert that would be easy to assemble for a group while also being a bit dramatic to make in front of guests and provide a not-too-heavy finish to the meal.  I think that this recipe managed to deliver on all fronts and is one that I would keep in the make-it-again file.

 

Seven Layer Dip - Taco Night Leftovers

 Side view of 7 Layer Dip

 

Leftovers, fresh or pre-cooked, can, with a few tweaks, be the basis of the next day’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Some of the best inspiration can come from foraging in your own refrigerator or cupboards or freezer.  For a variation on the DIY Tacos aka Fork Tacos recipe posted previously, here's a way to use up the remaining items, or, the dish could start out this way, depending upon your choice. Again, this is a dish that you could prepare with your child/ren, having them help count the layers as they are added to total the number 7.

It is also a good party dish as it can go a long way and, served in a glass baking dish, it adds lots of color to a spread. The key to this dish as well as the recipe given earlier is the flexibility that it provides, for family dinner, or even for entertaining. Both meals are relatively easy to prepare ahead so that you can enjoy your guests' company without having to constantly be in the kitchen.

Wine Tasting and Pasta at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria

So, my undergraduate alumni chapter is trying to revitalize here in the Big Apple. They are trying out various events to see if they can lure us out of our usual social circles to meet other people with whom we all share a common tie. The biggest draw has been [as is typical of a Southern school] Beer and Football. As we are a small school, and as the college football season is but a blip in the year, the alumni board needed to come up with other ideas to draw us together.

This month, they organized a wine tasting at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria,* part of the Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich (Lidia’s son) restaurant group. Being on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent and the beginning of the period of sacrifice and reflection, I thought that that was an interesting choice in days. It turned out that the dark smudge on my forehead (I never can seem to get the priest who makes a nice, neat cross.) somehow became a talking point a few times during the evening. I even managed not to get any black flecks in my glass!

Here’s how we started out – with a glass of Chardonnay

DIY Taco Bar aka Fork Tacos

 

 Deconstructed aka “Fork” Tacos

 

Kids can be notoriously fussy eaters. My parents didn’t normally let us get away with being picky. We were of the eat-it-or-you-can-go-to-bed-hungry generation. I noticed that, later on, with my younger siblings and my cousin, who was even younger than all of us, they started to cave and even made separate kinds of potatoes to suit them. I think that we’d drained them by the time the younger crowd came around.

So, in honor of the picky ones and those still adamant about not eating food unless it is prepared the way they want it to be done, I’m sharing a Family Favorite recipe that lets kids choose how to put together a meal that hopefully parents will find acceptable as well. These made an appearance after a scouts’ camping trip and then shortly thereafter entered the weekly rotation at our house. 

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Winter Melon Soup

Huh? Wasn’t that, like, a month or so ago? It might seem a bit late to say that, but one of the more fun things about living in a multi-cultural city is getting to celebrate holidays multiple times at a different time in the year for everyone, depending upon the calendar one follows. It also means getting to discover new traditions and ….best of all…new food items, especially which ones bring prosperity, good fortune, and luck.  (I’m not so sure, however, that, as someone pointed out, it means that you also continually get to push back when you start your resolutions, but I sometimes do fudge that one!) 

Fried Whole Crabs

Some of My Cooking Experiences

I can’t even remember the first time I cooked or baked.  It has just always seemed like a part of life, almost as natural as breathing.  From baking cookies with my mom and younger siblings in the afternoon after school to making pancakes on weekend mornings to throwing dinner parties post-college in my first real apartment, I have just always turned to the warmth of the kitchen for inspiration and fulfillment. 

 

One of my first eating memories is of the pink birthday cake my mother made for me when I was four years old.  I’m not sure why she went along with it.  Pink was my absolute favorite color as a child.  The frosted cake sort of resembled one of those fluffy marshmallow things sold in pairs at gas station convenience stores.  I thought it was bee-yoo-ti-ful and very special.  I loved it!

 

There’s a certain fearlessness that I’ve always had, no matter how much of a mess I make, and, believe me, there have been a few.  I can’t explain how great of a feeling, the amazing sense of accomplishment, it is to be able to make something I’ve eaten at a restaurant or to master some new skill at the stove.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ve always been exactly successful in the kitchen, but I have been willing to try. 

 

My mother, to this day, will bring up how I burned chocolate when I was trying to melt it for some Girl Scout cooking project.  The smell was pretty awful, as anyone who has ever done this can tell you.  I don’t recommend doing it ever.  The reason it had burned was that I had neglected to use a double-boiler and it burned right into the bottom of the sunshine yellow saucepan I was using.  Mind you, this was 20-odd years ago, but I still get to hear about it occasionally as though it is another badge – “Kitchen Fiascos” – that I should have earned towards my First Class Scout patch.

 

Another culinary disaster of mine, which my family is also all too pleased to recall, was the time I over-seasoned a stir-fried rice dish I made when baby-sitting my siblings.  To this day, my youngest sister reminds me of “The Ginger Incident” as she likes to call it.  She blames me for her dislike of this flavor.  “Don’t let her make ginger chicken for you!” is her rallying cry.  I swear, if I’m not careful, I can see her lobbying to put that on my tombstone.  Just to let her know, if she’s reading this: If you do do that, I will haunt you forever with the scent of ginger trailing behind me.

 

Buon appetito!

The Backstory – Why I Cook

Perhaps it is best to begin at the beginning before going too far along. Now that I’ve written a bit about food and its impact on my life, maybe it is time to explain why the career shift is so important and why this is such a big deal to do.  So why the move from Banking to Blogging?  Well, for the past several-odd years, I have been working in financial services in New York City. Originally, I began my working life in the field of international relations, which enabled me to live in Bologna, Strasbourg, and London. A few years after I completed my Master’s Degree, I moved into the world of banking. It will probably not be a surprise to discover that I have worked on the marketing side of the business. I liked the writing, running events, and developing of ideas into strategies.

 

Having been in New York City when the terrorist attacks occurred in 2001, it is hard for them not to have had an impact on my life. The ability of food to bring together friends and family in a nourishing setting is only a small sliver of the power that cooks and chefs possess. In the aftermath of so much loss and destruction, food also provided the ability to heal and to feed people’s souls. I, myself, hosted several friends who were stranded in the city that night, heating up the completely-made-from-scratch Lasagna Bolognese that I’d made for a party later that week for dinner. In talking to someone who counseled victims of that trauma, she said that this need to create, whether by cooking or other means, acts as a direct counterpoint and provides a sort of balancing factor to the devastation that took place.

 

So perhaps the move isn’t such a dramatic one, given the major changes that have taken place in my world over the past few years. Cooking has been at the core of who I am for most of my life. I’ve lived in a couple of states and four countries and have traveled to many others. In each locale, I’ve found that the food-culture link is an essential element to my understanding and appreciation of the places I’ve been. I’ve also taken with me a stable of recipes to share with the friends I have met and made there, knowing that food is a basic human need and a fundamental level on which we are all connected. Besides, I have found few individuals who are strong enough to resist the power of a plate of homemade brownies! 

 

Buon appetito!