IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME...

Good Evening Chefs....

I've been so busy lately and I cannot believe I haven't posted in six days.  Shame on me!  Hope you are all doing well, eating well and just overall feeling great!

I don't know what it is about Barbecue Ribs, but that has been my most popular post and thanks to all of you that have commented and left me messages.  Since I don't write your usual "cooking/recipe" blog, although so many I have come across are absolutely delightful, I don't have that kind of structured style.  I do plan however, to fill my recipe vault with some of my original recipes and they will come as we go, but in all honesty, a good cook, is just that; And although we do experiment with flavors, our creations turn out quite similar in many instances, mainly because we belong to a peer group that are trained to think within the creative cooking realm.  So before I go and bore you with recipe after recipe, the writer in me had to step in and captivate you through stories, tricks and tidbits of useful information, that ultimately makes cooking enjoyable.  So, with that said,.....

Today I decided to tackle an obstacle of mine in cooking that has been my achilles heel since I first tried to duplicate the amazing flavors and textures of Greek cuisine.

There's this little Greek diner near my home and I really don't get to frequent it that often.  When I lived in New York, Greek restaurants were everywhere and where I would succumb to my favorite dish Spinach and Feta Pie, a.k.a. Spanakopita. (Sorry, I don't have one of those little dingies for over my "o"...)

Now being familiar with Mediterranean cuisine I was sure of one thing.  The Greeks would travel and some would settle on the shores of the Mediterranean.  By the use of cargo ships and by being a seafaring nation, they would have access to foods from foreign parts, that were not native to Greece.  Pasta, lemons and oranges, spinach from Persia, tomatoes, almonds, etc.  Greece being particularly noted for their amazing produce, their olives and figs in abundance and grapes, that were not so much eaten as a fruit, but dried to produce wine are just a few of what Greece has to offer.

Given that the Greeks had access to so much variety, it gives us a better understanding, why their food, as unique and tasty, incorporates a multiude of ingredients from other countries, with a distinct influence in Italian cooking, thanks to the Romans for employing Greeks in their households.

My weakness for Greek food was their use of a flaky pastry called Phyllo.  Phyllo, a paper thin pastry, buttered and layered in Greek dishes, creates texture and flavor that is amazingly light, yet so substantial.  And when you incorporate spinach and warm feta cheese, this explosion of flavor occurs on your palate and you're really hooked from that moment on.

I have never been able to quite master the handling of phyllo, adding to my ongoing frustration to produce a dish that is relatively quite simple, but for me, personally, I cringe at a recipe calling for it.  My heavy-handedness, is truly my demise, as I rip and tear this delicate dough, trying so hard to keep it in one piece.

I battle with the experimentation of the dough's temperature to get it just right...Chefs, I need help here.  What is it about this delicate pastry that befuddles my ongoing attempts at success....Please if you would be so kind?....... Visit the RECIPEVAULT for my take on this mouthwatering goodness....

Until next time...OPA!

DIVA DISASTER - YOU CALL THAT A MEATBALL?

Good Morning Chefs...

Let's recap...As you probably already know, Friday's posts are dedicated to a series, known as D.I.V.A Disasters.  They are short stories that talk about things that have gone wrong in my kitchen, whether it pertains to a specific dish or an food incident that occurred after the fact.

What is it with people?  I've eaten over friends' houses countless times; same goes for family, extended family and so forth...Never once did I ever, no matter what was served, criticize or judge the food.  I have to admit, there were a few times when I may have been a bit hesitant to dive right in, but regardless, I ate, with a very open mind.  I guess I am one of those people who take into consideration the time and effort that goes into making a home cooked meal. The person who cooked it, was proud enough to serve it and if not for anything else, out of respect, I will eat it. 

I wish I could say the same for many I know.  I invited a couple who I was friends with and her parents over for dinner one night.  Now, this is nothing new for me.  I love to entertain, I usually go all out, but this time was a little different since I was forewarned that her parents had simple taste (when it came to food).  I had asked what their favorite dish was and she said meatballs, with pasta or rice, whatever.  Okay so simple enough, this was a no-brainer. 

I spent the day making a home-made pasta sauce, beef based, using beef rib tips I had in the freezer.  I went light on the garlic, just in case.  I had 3 lbs of ground sirloin for my meatballs, made a huge salad and put out a tray of cheese and crackers, olives and the norm.  I went shopping that morning and purchased some fresh pasta from this little Italian grocery store, a loaf of artisan semolina bread and a small wrapped block of Pecorino Romano cheese.   Pecorino Romano cheese is my favorite.  It's firm, a little salty, is perfect for grating and it doesn't melt into a stringy mess.  It freezes nicely if cut up into smaller pieces...However, its pricey!

I spent the rest of the day preparing this meal, setting the table and seeing to every last detail.  Everything was ready and my company arrived.  All was going well, until I brought this beautiful platter to the table when the woman's mother blurted, "You call that a meatball?"...in an instant I could feel myself go pale. I didn't respond to her remark.  I acted as though I didn't hear it.

As if that weren't enough, she plopped down, nearly clearing the entire table, as the tablecloth caught hold of her chair, bringing the meatball platter almost directly to her.  Still mortified, though I remained without expression, I watched her take hold of the serving spoon, dig into my meatball platter, hold up a meatball and say to her husband, "look at this baseball!".  "I've never seen meatballs this big in my entire life!"  Ugh!  I very politely, moved the platter back into the center of the table and said, "the meatballs aren't over sized, perhaps you're used to the frozen kind that come in a bag."  She just looked at me and proceeded in conversation with the others.

My other guests couldn't stop raving, including her husband, who was "subtly" getting nudged by his wife, each time he complimented the food.  She allowed herself the freedom to throw out little digs here and there, mostly directed at the others' enjoyment.  Needless to say, she was never invited back.

Love and meatballs to you all.....

Visit the RecipeVault to view the Meatball and Spaghetti Recipe.

WE'RE HAVING MUSTGO!

Good Morning Chefs....

Today I would like to share with you an eating tradition that's incorporated into my household and I am not making any remote reference to muskrat.  However, since they are omnivorous, they would actually make a suitable dinner guest at my table.  But enough about them....

Mustgo dinners take place all over the world, you could have had it tonight.  It's just that we refer to it as "mustgo", simply enough "Must Go, means just that; All leftovers from the week are reheated and placed on our table making a second round appearance.  The catch to the whole thing is, whatever isn't eaten, must go!  This is a wonderful way to offer a variety of flavors at the table and it reduces waste. I really hate to throw food in the garbage. 

Also, it gives me the opportunity to clean out my fridge and make room for the upcoming week.  I know exactly when it's time for mustgo...I have no food containers left to use.  So, obviously those get washed on mustgo night and refill my cabinets.

I know many people who refuse to eat leftovers.  I can understand to a point, especially if the leftovers are served day after day.  But perhaps, they may feel differently about it if there were a few days in between.  Besides, some meals taste better the next day, after reheating. 

Before "mustgo", I've made the mistake of serving leftovers days in a row.  I think we may all be a bit guilty of doing so...think about Thanksgiving.  I know I can disguise turkey in almost every form imaginable...my family knows me all too well.  I can't fool them anymore.  Even my five year old calls me out!  Oh and I'll never forget the day the term was first used.  "We're having what?"  "I'm not eating that!"  It was hilarious seated at the table, seeing all the food and asking, "Where is the "mustgo"?"  You're looking at it!

I hope you enjoyed this little "quirk" of ours..Have any of your own to share?  Please comment!

Until next time....love and good eats to all of you!

COMING UP.

• THE SPICE RACK

© 2010. ~C~ is for COOKING!

COOKBOOK COMBAT

Good Afternoon Chefs...

I am not one to pass up a good cookbook; and my definition of a good cookbook is one that uses everyday ingredients, the recipe prep times are reasonable and the recipe itself can be modified to different tastes.  They are mostly recognizable concoctions, food you have definitely heard of and handled and should be easy to follow.

Now I do not consider a cookbook for baking one that should be modified.  Baking requires accurate measuring, technique when combining ingredients and the outcome should be exact as in print.  But your standard cookbook should allow for modifications, although they do not outright state that.

Hypocritically speaking, I have never used a cookbook, for other than baking where I followed the ingredients to the letter; yet I own over 50 cookbooks.  Why do I own so many, when I don't actually follow them? 

Well, first, I own and I suggest those who collect cookbooks own, at least one copy of The Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.  These have been around for over 75 years.  They contain important information such as weights and measures, storing and freezing, ingredient substitutions and additional kitchen knowledge that should really be the basis for which you cook, in the first place.  Even after years of preparing meals, I still refer back to my most reliable sources.

Other types of cookbooks that are great to invest in, are those geared towards different ethnicities.  Every countries' cuisine has a different flavor profile or technique.  Let's use Germany and Ireland for example.  These two countries cuisine is different, however, the flavor profiles are similar.  There are subtle differences that distinguish the two cuisines, beside the obvious dishes.  But although similar, there is something different, whether in the preparation or flavor that makes them indicative to that country.  Now, I purposefully chose these two countries to talk about because they are similar.  No different than Poland and Germany.  But when we're deciding on making a Chinese dish, we're not going to use recipes from the Irish and vice versa.

So having a collection of books that are specific to a region offers us great advantages when creating ethnic food.

COOKBOOK INTIMIDATION
Although cookbooks are designed to help us along in the kitchen, many of us are intimidated by the format of the recipe, iteself.  Some of us are step-by-step defiant; and there is nothing wrong with that.  In this case, you use your written versus visual skills differently, that don't easily adapt to a written plan of attack.  I, personally, would rather see a picture of a dish, then scan the list of ingredients for that recipe.  At this point, I know what goes with what and unless I am dealing with a food product I am not familar with, only then would I read on.  The rest is your personal creativity.  The cookbook gave you the flavor profiles that go hand in hand, how you put them together is your choice.

For those of you who have to follow a recipe word for word to achieve success, I applaud you.  Your patience level far exceeds mine.  But ask yourself this...how many recipes have you turned the page on that you considered making because the list of ingredients was too long or the prep time was unreasonable, etc.?  It happens to the best of us and when I have no choice to follow a recipe to the letter, trust me, I find some loophole in it to cut corners.  I achieve the same outcome, just opted for the path of least resistance.

Learning how to scan your cookbooks no matter how many you own, sparks imagination and creativity.  You will learn to develop your own recipes, you will master flavor profiles and how to effectively combine them, never compromising the taste of each and you will find that you put your cookbooks to use a lot more frequently than you ever have. 

Cookbooks are expensive.  I look for them in discount stores or on clearance tables.  Once in awhile, I just have to have it regardless of cost.  When you're shopping for a specific cookbook or see one that grabs your attention, ask yourself the following:

1.  Do the recipes incorporate a main food product that you are familiar with?
2.  Are the recipes easy to understand and follow?
3.  Does the cookbook offer illustrations of the final dish?
4.  Will I repeat the recipes from time to time, or is this a novelty cookbook?

How you answer these questions, should help you decide if that cookbook will get use in your kitchen?
The above questions, especially when shopping for an Ethnic Cookbook, may not apply, only because they are region specific and you may not always be familiar with the main food product or repeat recipes weekly.  It may even be a little more complicated to understand.  This doesn't mean not to buy it.  It means that finding the simplest recipes for your cooking ability regardless of what kind of cookbook you purchase will make your time in the kitchen less frustrating. 

I love that every cuisine has a cookbook in an easy format.  You'll know it when you see it.  Usually, its ease of use is incorporated in the title.  Ex. "Chinese Food in Minutes",  "Meals in Less than 30 Minutes", "One Pot Recipes", etc.  These titles are clues in finding the simplest recipes that work, that usually incorporate easy to find ingredients and more.

TRICK OF THE TRADE
Have on hand 5 ruled index cards.  Label the cards:  American, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Seafood (you can substitute any of these titles to your own personal food type choices)
When you indulge in any of the five labeled cuisines or peruse your cookbooks for ideas, on that card list the flavor profiles that each dish are known for.  For example:

American:  Beef and Onions, Chicken and Lemon
Italian: Garlic and Oil, Basil and Tomato
Chinese: Ginger and Soy Sauce, Ginger and Teriyaki Sauce
Mexican:  Cheese and Beans, Tomato and Corn
Seafood:  Butter and Lemon, White Wine and Butter

These cards will now become a cheat sheet when cooking different types of food.  You can refer to your cards to create different meals using Chicken, Beef, Fish, Pork.  Want a Chinese take on chicken, then refer to your Chinese card and you'll know what distinct flavor profiles make Chinese food, just that.  I just listed a few, but you can write down as many as you like and create your own flavorful combinations.

For some, cooking is a chore.  For others, it's a hobby.  For most, it's a necessity.  Why not simplify something that not only shortens how much time is spent in the kitchen, but makes for variety without the frustration. 

I wish you a beautiful meal...

COMING UP.

• DIVA DISASTERS
• WE'RE HAVING MUSTGO!

© 2010 ~C~ is for Cooking

SEXY SALAD

Good Afternoon Chefs and Happy Memorial Day!

I never thought I'd call salad sexy but here's an analogy that earns this food its surprising adjective.

When I wake up in the morning, Im just plain ol' lettuce. Limp, uncolorful, blah!
After a shower, that lettuce is looking a little more alive.
Once I add some color to my face and moisturize my skin, I'm almost there.
A spritz of something wonderful and a flip of my hair and I've arrived.

Colorful, cheerful and presentable. I smell good and I look good! Food is no different.

In order to be creative and successful in the kitchen, one has to look at food in a completely different light.
Salad especially merits the right to be more than just some torn greens with hard bread and tomatoes in it, smothered in the most overpowering, taste-bud deadening dressings that are now available. Salad should be light, airy, crisp and fresh. When tossed with an equally delectable dressing, every bite should explode with flavor, thus making salad a hit at your table. So here are some simple tips to keep in mind next time you find yourself hovering over those greens:

1. Choose your green of choice. Whether it be lettuce, spring greens or spinach, make sure your greens are fresh. Discard the outer limp leaves or those turning brown. After greens sit awhile, the outer leaves become unusuable and depending how long you've had it, you still may be able to find quality leaves as you get closer to the heart. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with spinach or bagged salad mixes or other loose greens that are not part of a whole head.

2. Rinse your greens, using a strainer, in cold water, draining well. It's important to blot them after rinsing, so you're not adding water to your salad. Dressing will not adhere to your salad ingredients if they are wet and there is nothing appetizing about finding a puddle of salad water in the bottom of your serving bowl. Some examples of salad greens include: any type of lettuce, spinach, arugula and more. You get the idea!

3. Scour your refrigerator for flavor boosting ingredients. Great salads have texture and a hint of tart and sweet. Depending on what kind of salad you plan to make, whether a side salad or a salad as a meal, will determine how heavy your ingredients should be. I will give ingredient ideas to help you along. But for now, eyeball those eggs, grab that leftover bacon, cut up an onion, grab for those craisins and chop up some almonds. YUM!

4. Add your combination of ingredients into your bowl with your greens. Nice bite-sized pieces are favorable and easy on the salad fork.

I'm one to order salad as a side when dining out. One time, I was seated in close proximity to a couple whose salads were just delivered to their table. I had just placed my order, so I was curious to see what the salad looked like. Without intruding, I subtly watched the couple dig in. OMG! When the gentlemen lifted the fork to his mouth, there was this HUGE slimy and limp piece of lettuce, just dangling from his fork. He put it in his mouth and like you would do with spaghetti, he slurped the leaf unsuccessfully as it pasted itself to his chin. From my angle, it looked like he had a green slithering tongue that just stuck itself to his face. NO! NO! NO! This is just wrong I thought to myself. Needless to say, I cut up my salad prior to any attempt at eating it.

5. To season or not to season the salad is completely left to your discretion. Use salt sparingly, pepper to taste if need be; add a little dried parsley from your spice rack if feeling a bit creative. I like to grind some garden herbs into my salad. An item stocked at your local supermarket in the spice aisle.

6. Choose your dressing. Viniagrette. Cream dressing. Oil and Vinegar. Depending on how complex your flavor profiles are in the ingredients you chose for your salad should determine what kind of dressing to use. The whole idea of adding a variety of flavors is to be able to taste them; So if you drown your salad in a robust flavored dressing.... say for example "Hickory Bacon Chipotle", I don't believe your "craisins" are going to taste like "craisins". So I use this simple rule of thumb: The more ingredients I add to my salad, the simpler and lighter is my dressing. A lettuce and tomato salad deserves some spunk, so get ahead and add that bacon dressing to give the salad flavor. Prepackaged dresssing do have a place in this world. If you are not one to stock up on the bacon or the eggs, the nuts or the raisins, then it's much more convenient to just add these flavors that come in bottled cream dressings.

7. Toss that Salad into Sexy. The aromas that are derived from a well-put together salad takes one's nose straight into the garden of herbs and plenty. Make sure your salad is tossed well, so all the ingredients can be found throughout. At this point, you can top that masterpiece with some grated Romano cheese if that's your thing. A world of flavor, along with a gorgeous presentation. Don't be surprised if they reach for seconds!

In order for food to turn out good, whether you follow a recipe or just throw caution to the wind with your own creativity, you really have to care about what it is your doing. You have to want to make it the best it can be. Even with major time contraints, it doesn't take any longer to do it wholeheartedly than it does to just throw whatever into a bowl and call it dinner, or a salad in this case. The rewards are reaped at the table. I would rather take a few extra minutes to make something they love, then watch even five minutes of my valuable time thrown in the trash.

So here are some sample ingredients and dressing choices.....Enjoy!
GREENS:
Lettuce, Spinach, Arugula, Spring Greens, Butter Greens, Radiccio, Endive

COLOR/FLAVOR/TEXTURE:
Carrots, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Onion, Bacon, Olives, Eggs, Chicken, Turkey, Ham, Cheese, Croutons, Nuts, Raisins, Grapes, Herbs, Green/Red/Yellow/Orange Peppers, Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas

DRESSING:
Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar (can be substituted with any flavored vinegar, i.e., (Fruit, Vegetable or Spice Vinegars), Olive Oil and White Vinegar, Store Packaged Dressing of Choice, Lemon juice, Lime juice

From my experience, any combination of the above two categories make for a wonderful salad. You can use all, some or just two. YUM!

COMING UP.

• COOKBOOK COMBAT
• DIVA DISASTERS

© 2010 ~C~ is for Cooking

~C~ is for COOKING Introduction

Hello Readers and Fellow Chefs....and yes, I mean you! Whether you've been professionally trained or you prepare daily meals for your family, the moment you step into that kitchen and cook a meal, Voila' you are a Chef! By definition a chef is "a cook in charge of a kitchen,head cook; any cook."

We all get in that kitchen and wait for the moment of creativity to strike. Some of us, like myself, ponder what I'll whip up for dinner, beginning the day prior. Others, can enter their kitchen, open the cupboards and fridge and take it from there. Being creative doesn't mean five courses using ingredients one is not familiar with; it can be as simple as adding some roasted almonds to your usual dinner salad or finding an interesting herb grinder, you just want to sprinkle on your steak. You'll be surprised what genius you possess once you know how to throw things together. So tie on your mental apron and let's get cooking!

What You Will Need:
D.I.V.A.
1. Desire to cook
2. Ingredients you already have; and just in case you don't have them, easily found at your local market.
3. Verve - Energy and Enthusiasm to make it special
4. Appetite - Preferably a healthy one!

I can only speak for myself here, but there are just some comfort foods that I cannot do without. I try to eat healthy but I go through spurts of eating what makes me feel good. I never had much of a sweet tooth for cake or ice cream and since I'm allergic to chocolate, can't indulge there, but pizza, by far is my all-time comfort food of choice. Let's find out why!?

Well, it has it's bread component. God knows I could woof down a loaf of Italian bread in one sitting. It's loaded with gooey cheese that strings itself around the tongue with a hint of salt. Then there's the tomato factor that sparks a little tartness to it all, adding the right amount of moistness so you don't choke; And if I were to top it, mushrooms for me thank you! I love earthy flavors; can't get much earthier than mushrooms.

So you see, in one comfort food, I get the whole enchilada! Pizza..you know what I mean!

Anyway, all the flavor profiles in pizza, makes pizza what it is and why it's so popular. It's that combination of simple ingredients when incorporated together create perfect harmony, never compromising the other. One compliments the other and so on.

I always felt it was important when combining ingredients that the integrity of each ingredient is not compromised. Try this little taste test. Next time you are having something that is familar to you, such as pizza, tacos, chicken salad, etc., close your eyes and individually name each of the ingredients you can decipher from one bite. Then take a peek to see if you were to name all the obvious ones. We all know what salt and pepper taste like, so those don't count on the visual scale; but name those too.

 Why, you ask? Simple. If you can accurately decipher the ingredients in something you enjoy, you will know that those ingredients as standalones blend well together and now you can use two or more of them together to create a different dish. Here's a simple recipe that proves this theory:

Let's use Pizza again. Ingredients: Dough, Tomato Sauce, Garlic, Herbs and Cheese

We're going to make:
ITALIAN SAUTEED CHICKEN BREAST

• Wash chicken breasts, trim off fat and dry them with paper towel.
• Heat skillet add 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• On medium to low heat, gently brown chicken until partially cooked through.
• Add one 16 oz. can tomato sauce or regular jar sauce (enough to almost cover chicken)
• Season with garlic powder, a pinch of salt and pepper (according to taste)
• Lower heat to a simmer and allow to cook turning breast halfway through cooking time for about 35 minutes or until juices run clear.
• Serve over pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
• Place a piece of Italian Bread on the side.

There you have it. We incorporated all the flavor profiles of pizza into our chicken recipe. I could have called it Pizza Chicken for that matter.   By learning how to distinguish flavors and keeping in mind ingredients that naturally go together, you can create countless number of meals. Who says food has to be boring and cooking a chore...not I, says ~C~!

© 2010 ~C~ is for Cooking