All posts filed under: Food Musings

Mmmm… Meringue

After a long season of munching on buttery cakes, iced cookies, and gooey candy the last thing that I want to bake, or eat, is dessert. I do, however, make an exception for meringues. Take one bite of an ethereally light meringue and you’ll understand why this confection was originally dubbed “sugar puff.” Crafted from egg whites and granulated sugar, this is one of the daintiest and simplest sweets that you’ll ever taste. As a child, I associated meringue with the browned peaks capping off my mom’s coconut cream and lemon meringue pies. Yet, as I later learned, it is so much more than a topping for creamy treats. Where would ile flottante be without its white, fluffy islands or baked Alaska without its elegant, insulating alps? Minus meringue both become pools of cream sloshing about on our plates. Without question meringue remains the backbone of these and many other desserts. Debate over the origins of this airy treat has raged on for decades. Some culinary historians credit the Swiss pastry chef Galasparini in the …

dried apricots, mascarpone, almonds, honey

Easy Holiday Eats – Apricot Medallions

As soon as Thanksgiving breezes by, I start obsessing over Christmas and all the celebrations — and preparations — that the holiday season brings. Each year I vow to make my life easier by hosting smaller parties and concocting simpler menus. Yet, each year I invariably end up sweating over a steaming stockpot of coq au vin for 16 or frantically whisking together 30 individual mocha pot de cremes on Christmas Eve. So much for easy. In 2009 I swear to halve my stress level by following four basic rules: Keep the appetizers easy. Offer only one entree. Don’t turn down offers from guests of appetizers or side dishes. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, don’t go wild with new, complicated dishes. Gone are the days of hot-out-of-the-oven mini red pepper quiches and two dozen other homemade hors d’ouevres. This year friends and family will nosh on quick, uncomplicated appetizers such as apricot medallions, smoked trout paté and spiced nuts. And, if time slips away from me, I will have no qualms about plunking wedges of …

Make a Change with Chutney

Whether sweet, sour, spicy or a tad salty, condiments have added flavor and flare to food for countless centuries. While the most familiar – ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise – still bring pleasure to the palate, something more unusual, such as chutney, can add much needed excitement to your dinner plate. From the East Indian word “chatni” comes chutney, a tangy condiment featuring minced herbs, fruits, vegetables and spices. Freshly prepared for each meal, chutney appears alongside curries, as a spread for bread, as a topping for cheese and as a flavor enhancer for milder dishes such as rice and dals. The ingredients in this sauce vary according to region and personal taste. In Southern India creamy coconut is all the rage while in Western India spicy herb reigns supreme. Whether from ripe or green tomatoes, tomato chutney is a hit across the country as is the silky, piquant tamarind chutney. Of the myriad of chutneys produced and consumed, only one has become an international sensation – the sweetly tart and chunky mango chutney. Made from …

Brussels sprouts halves

For the Love of Sprouts

As a child, I could think of no words more terrifying at dinnertime than “Brussels sprouts.”  Invariably overcooked and, as a result, smelling of rotten eggs, these nutritious, cruciferous vegetables became the bane of family meals. As my dread grew so did my deceptive eating habits.  When my parents’ gazes were averted, I slipped individual sprouts beneath the table to a dog that would, and did, eat anything.  When the dog had reached her limit, I tucked the offending vegetables into my napkin or hid them beneath an untouched slice of buttered bread.  Whatever I could I did to avoid eating that night’s veg. Twenty years later I am pleased to report that my fear of Brussels sprouts has come to a happy end.  I owe this breakthrough to learning how to select, store, and prepare these vitamin C-rich plants. In Belgium Brussels sprouts dominate the produce stands.  Resembling tiny, green cabbages clinging to tall, thick stalks, they are uniquely Belgian.  Although scholars debate the date of their emergence, placing this anywhere from the 12th …

Pumpkin, the Jack of All Gourds

Pity the pumpkin. Each fall it risks getting carved up, stuffed with a candle and dumped unceremoniously on someone’s porch only to be forsaken after Halloween. When this thick-skinned winter squash does make it to the dinner table, it’s relegated to the end of the meal, to a time when most diners are too satiated to indulge in or even appreciate its rich, earthy taste. I, too, once had little regard for the poor pumpkin. It was neither a seasonal decoration nor a fragile cannonball but the main ingredient in my mother’s Thanksgiving pies or aunt’s sweet pumpkin squares and breads. Spiced with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, it concluded the holiday dinner then quickly disappeared from our menus, replaced by cranberry cobblers, mince pies and fruitcakes. Now, though, the low-fat and low-calorie pumpkin sticks around long past Thanksgiving, playing a starring role in both my dinners and desserts. Much of the world uses pumpkin in savory as well as sweet dishes.  The French use it in soups and in bread, pain de courge, which is …

Wild, Wild Rice

To friends who dislike or have grown tired of white rice, I always suggest that they give wild rice a try.  With its firm texture, nutty flavor and earthy appearance this grain adds a little excitement to the staid rice family.  High in dietary fiber and protein, it likewise offers a nutritional boost absent from milled, nutrient-depleted white rice.  If disillusioned rice eaters take into account wild rice’s complex taste and texture and dietary benefits, they may give this hearty food a chance. When these winning aspects don’t sway them, I point out that wild rice falls into the category of affordable gourmet goods.  With wild rice they can splash out on an exotic dish without emptying their wallets.  The same cannot be said for other epicurean delights such as white truffles, a bottle of good, aged balsamic vinegar or wheel of aged Manchego cheese. Should my finicky friends remain unconvinced, I simply present them with one of a multitude of savory recipes.  One bite of wild rice sauteed with cremini mushrooms, simmered with onions, …

Be Warm and in Good Health

As the thermometer plummets and cold, dreary days become the norm, my thoughts turn to wassail and all the warmth and good cheer that it brings.  Derived from the Norse phrase “ves heill” or “be in good health,” wassail holds several longstanding, culinary roles.  It can be a toast to the aforementioned health, the alcoholic drink with which one is toasted, or the festive event where drinking and toasting occurs.  Yet, oddly enough, to go ‘wassailing’ could just as easily mean that you’re off caroling at Christmastime as out imbibing.   Of course, the carolers of yore did expect to receive steaming cups of wassail, food, and heartfelt good wishes in exchange for their melodies. At my house wassail is a favorite hot, mulled drink.   Although customarily made with mead or ale and occasionally wine, I opt for a seasonal brew of white rum and apple cider.  Whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and ground ginger spice up the tart cider while an ample amount of sugar sweetens the mix. Traditionally, this toasty beverage was placed …

Stuffed

A recent assignment forced me to spend a warm, sunny Sunday in the kitchen, testing stuffing recipes.  It also got me thinking about my troubled relationship with this cooking staple.  Since Stovetop Stuffing became all the rage during my toddler years, I have only hazy memories of my mother making homemade, rather than just-add-boiling-water, dressings.  As a result, I can share no cherished family recipes for Mom’s cranberry-chestnut stuffing or  Grandmother’s sweet potato-lentil filling.  I can, however, wax about the stuffing varieties offered by Kraft Foods. Hobbled by this culinary deficit, I’ve experienced my share of homemade stuffing disasters.  Take the Thanksgiving where I watched my husband’s extended family spoon out parched bread cubes that clinked as they hit the dinner plates.   Then there was the follow-up meal where I overcompensated for the bone dry dressing and served a bland, gooey porridge of bread, minced onions and celery.  No wonder my mother opted for store-bought mixes. Fortunately, I — and my dinner guests — persevered and learned from my mistakes.  Today I can actually …

Ice It

Last month I developed an obsession with blended, iced coffees.   You know the ones that I mean — “frappucinos,” “arctic mochas,” frozen mochas.”  I just couldn’t get enough of these cold, chocolaty, caffeine-laced treats.   From Starbucks to small, independent coffee shops I tried every variation.   Endless consumption resulted not only in a bulging waistline but also in some interesting discoveries.  Beyond coming to grips with the fact that these drinks are chocked full of calories (depending on the size ordered, between 300 and 700 calories per drink) and fat (between 10 and 21 grams per drink) I learned that every barista makes his drink differently and not every drink thrills me equally. Truth be told, I fell head over heels for the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s mocha-licious version yet threw out the slushy, overly sweet offering from Dunkin Donuts after just one sip.   As usual, Starbucks served up a tasty but bold brew while Panera Bread delivered something more akin in flavor to a mild chocolate milk shake.  Some smaller shops doled …

A Dumpling by Any Other Name

When I tell friends that the first dumplings that I tasted were brown butter-coated gnocchi, more than a few eyebrows raise. Accustomed to the whole-apple-baked-inside-a-flaky-dough dumpling, they think that I am confused. How could I mistake a savory Italian entree for this luscious treat? Made from a simple mixture of potatoes, flour and egg, gnocchi is, in fact, a savory, Italian dumpling. Like all dumplings, it originally provided a means to stretching meals and satisfying hunger at a time when appetite-sating meat was a rare luxury. Added to a soup or stew, it afforded an inexpensive means to expanding these dishes. Topped with a sauce, gravy, butter or meat drippings, it became economical and hearty entrees in its own right. Historians quibble over gnocchi’s exact origins. More than likely these orbs of dough came to Italy via the Middle East during Roman times.  Originally made from semolina, they later became known as Italian potato dumplings.  Today you can enjoy not only potato-based gnocchi but also spinach, bread and the traditional semolina. Toppings vary as well. …