Fall Is In The Air!!

Don't you just love when fall arrives? You get those beautiful changing leaves, cool crisp air, scarves become the favorite accessory and my personal favorite, fall produce! I crave pumpkin pie all year round and when fall finally arrives, I try not to gorge myself haha. I wanna refresh or maybe teach those who don't know about fall produce. It's really simple and it will cost you a lot less to buy these produce items while they are in season. Let's get started. 


Buying seasonally is not only helpful to your wallet, but great for your body. You are buying produce that thrives in that type of weather and receiving great nutrients in return! Seasonal produce is cheaper to purchase because there is an abundance of certain crops at that time of year. For example, we all associate fall with pumpkins, squashes and apples right? We don't exactly eat juicy peaches and citrus now do we? No.... lol. Just because our grocery stores carry citrus all year round, doesn't mean we should buy it. 


Our society has become one of convenience and we are able to buy these produce out of season. What we would normally be growing ourselves last season, we are now importing from other countries and paying a great deal for them.Without a second thought, people will buy a bag of oranges and pay like 8 bucks for them. Get home, and realize that your oranges are full of pith and hardly any orange and have no flavor. I hear a lot of this too," My son's soccer team likes oranges before and after practice." I can't exactly argue that one, but what's wrong with giving them their own pint of berries or a juicy plum? We need to demand that our grocery stores stock up on seasonal produce! Grown either locally or in the United States! But that's another blog lol. 


Back to what I was saying before. Not a lot of people know more than a few fall produce. Things to look out for are: Blackberries, figs, apples including the honey crisp apples (Sooo amazing, please go try some if you haven't already. Their very seasonal, like 2 months out of the year), pomegranates, pomelos, plums, pears, grapes, persimmons and a probably a lot more depending on where you live lol. That's just the fruit!!


Vegetables include potatoes, leeks, onions, carrots, cauliflower, squashes, sweet corn, peppers, parsnips, fennel, cucumbers, broccoli, eggplant, the list goes on and on. I work at a grocery store and it is no coincidence that people are buying these produce! They are buying them in large quantities too, especially the fruits. The fall produce are those that have a great robustness and hearty feel. They are our comfort foods against the cold weather. Even the small berries, they are big and bursting with flavor! 


Soups are one of those simple and very versatile meals to make. Not only can you make up recipes for soup, but you can add what ever you want to them! They freeze great and can be enjoyed year round! Add any vegetables you wish, you really can't go wrong! 


Go online and find more about seasonal produce that's available in the fall. Also, if your city or town have fresh markets, I greatly encourage you to go to one! Farmers are more than happy to share how they grow their crops and how to get the most nutrients out of their produce. Produce bought from a market are going to cost you much less than paying for it at a grocery store, I guarantee it! Even organic produce! Farmers take great pride in organic produce, as they should. 


Did you know that: It takes a minimum of 7 years for a farmers land to even become ready to start growing organically! They have to get their soil approved by the government before they can grow any crops, and have to get it tested every few months or once a year? So if you ever wonder why organics are a little more expensive, there ya go! 


Anyway, please take my advice and buy seasonal produce. I have listed a few of the available fruits and vegetables that are really thriving right now. If you are an avid grocery shopper like I am, you will notice a great difference in price for what's in, and what's out of season. Just see the prices for yourself! If you like enjoying produce out of it's season, by all means by frozen produce. They are much better than canned. If you really enjoy foods like that, try making your own preserves or canned foods. You will reap the benefits of buying seasonally again and then enjoying the literal fruits of your labor. 


Have a wonderful fall season, stay warm! 

Super Easy Pasta Recipe

I can't stress enough when I say that there is beauty in simplicity. This can be applied so well with food. My example for you is one of my favorite ways to eat pasta. 


You will need:
-Angel Hair Pasta           - Salt/Pepper
- Lemon Juice                 - Raw Garlic
- Butter                           


-When I cook pasta like this, I add hot water to a pot so it doesn't take as long to boil. (All of the ingredient amounts are subjective to your taste)
- Cook the pasta as instructed on the box, or until al dente.****
- Place some butter in a serving bowl, along with a spritz of lemon and garlic (freshly grated or jarred kind is up to you). 
- Drain off the pasta and add as much as you like to the serving bowl. Toss in the butter, lemon juice and garlic. 
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Lemon juice is great in pasta because it gives the taste buds the illusion of salt, so watch how much salt you add!!)
-Optional, zest the lemon for extra added flavor. 


There is no need to overwhelm your pasta in a heavy cream or tomato sauce. 


***Cooks note: Al Dente is a point where pasta is cooked and still has a little bite to it. Most certainly not soggy!
Enjoy my recipe!!

It's Music to My Ears

I have a somewhat weird way of thinking, and it can really differ from others when it comes to food. I feel that when I see a plate of food, it really speaks to you. Not necessarily in words but in a musical sense. A plate of food can look really sensual and so appetizing, to me I think of a smooth romantic number. Or when you see a plate full of colorful food items, it makes me think of a song you would hear at Cirque de Soleil. A casual dinner of craw fish and dirty rice just screams creole music right?


But when you find that one meal, and I mean the "one", your eyes roll back into your head, goosebumps take over your skin, your mouth begins to salivate and you almost want to make sweet sweet love to your plate. How could something take such a hold on you? It's just a plate of food! But no, it's not.... it's an edible piece of art that is about to grace your palette in a way you have never experienced. When I find a meal like that, this is the song that I think of. "Digging My Potato" - by The Seatbelts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_H3Kw21lJk The song, like your meal, starts out slow. You really savor the beginning of your meal, the steam rises slowly from your food and you take a big whiff that rushes to the back of your skull. You get into a good rhythm of eating your meal, then as the song moves on it gets quicker and quicker and your food is becoming less and less on your plate. Your table gets quiet but all you can hear is the deafening sound of you chewing your meal. Suddenly you are overwhelmed with the sensation of your food sliding down your throat. Take a swig of that wine, cut some more of your steak, shovel that potato, break some more of that bread, the slamming of silverware on your plate, throw down that napkin and then........BAM! You're plate is empty. 


You're heart beat begins to slow down and you are awoken as if you were in a pleasureful food coma, but you remember everything. You remember that you are in a restaurant and not at home and then you take your leave. 

Whipped Cream Recipe A.K.A Creme Chantilly

Welcome to my second recipe installment!! I feel that this recipe is so useful in any kitchen and is incredibly easy to make. This is a recipe for sweetened whipped cream also known as “Crème Chantilly”. It’s best to use this whipped cream as soon as possible and doesn’t really keep well in the fridge, but nevertheless, it is fantastic tasting! You will need:

This recipe yields 2-2 & ½ pints of whipped cream

-Standing mixer with whisk attachment/hand mixer & bowl/or whisk & bowl

- 1 pint of Heavy Whipping Cream

- 3 oz. Powdered Sugar (This recipe helps if you have a scale. I have a digital one I bought online for around $25.00 on Amazon.)

- 2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract ( Home made if you have it)

Directions:

·         When making whipped cream all elements must be chilled. So chill the bowl, whisk attachment/ hand mixer attachments etc. in your fridge for 20 minutes.

·         Be sure your heavy cream is also chilled.

·         Measure out the powdered sugar and sift to remove any lumps.

·         Put together your mixer elements and pour the chilled whipping cream into the chilled bowl. Whisk until slightly thickened.

·         Once the cream is slightly thickened, add in the sugar in small increments until it’s all incorporated.

·         Continue to whip until cream looks fluffy and slightly glossy, but don’t over mix! You don’t want butter lol.

·         Measure out your vanilla extract and add to the whipped cream. Be sure to add it when the mixer is off, you wouldn’t want to splash yourself HEHE! ****

·         Do a taste test to see if the sweetness it to your liking.

·         Use immediately! Great on top of cakes/pies, inside Charlottes, and simply splendid as a topper for hot chocolate.

·         Powdered sugar is used here instead of granulated sugar because it’s not grainy. A bonus to using powdered sugar is that the cornstarch in powdered sugar helps stabilize the cream and keeps its volume longer.

****Cook’s note: It is best to measure out the vanilla extract at the last minute because vanilla extract is infamous for evaporating. (Refer to Vanilla Blog for more info) Home made extract has alcohol in it which will begin to evaporate at room temperature. Also, adding it in last minute won’t make it evaporate versus adding it in the beginning.  

I hope you enjoy this simple and tasty recipe! Feel free to ask any questions! Rock on ya'll!  

Cooking Methods

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people mixing up cooking terms. An example would be “This is a deep fried item” when it was really pan fried. So this blog will clear up any confusion so you the reader will know which terms to use at what time. Each cooking method is different and used for different foods and if used incorrectly, it can ruin a meal. So I will list a cooking method and explain it briefly:

-          Broiling: This method uses a heat source that is above the food. In a restaurant you can find a piece of equipment called a “Salamander” that does just that. You can have a flame or an electric heating element and this is used to brown foods, great for melting cheese on soups.

-          Grilling: This one is pretty obvious. A heat source is underneath the food and can be done by gas, charcoal, wood or briquettes (They are like charcoal but made from a special material, you can use these over and over again). The food that is cooked on a grill should have distinct cross hatch marks.

-          Roasting/Baking: These two methods are the same! Baking is more often used when making sweets or sweet items and roasting is for more savory items. They are most often times interchangeable but I feel that baking is used for sweets and roasted for savory. Be careful when roasting because there is “Carry Over Cooking (see Chef’s note at the bottom)” that you need to account for in cooking time. Food can be cooked in an oven with heating elements or use hot air in a form of convection.

-          Sauteing: This method is used for quick cooking items or slightly cooking an item, say to warm it through. A small amount of fat is used to protect the surface of the pan and then it is warmed to the desired temperature. The food is placed in the hot pan and cooked to desired doneness.  

-          Pan Frying: Very similar to sautéing but more fat is used and the cooking time is a bit longer. This technique is often used to brown items such as pork chops and latkes. Drain the excess fat from the food with a few paper towels.

-          Deep Frying: This technique is done in a large amount of fat whether it’s peanut oil or lard (yummy) where a food is completely submerged in fat. This technique can be done in a standing deep fryer, built in deep fryer fry or as restaurants call them friolaters. Great for doing a turkey for thanksgiving!!

-          Poaching: This can be a tricky cooking method because the cooking liquid is not boiling or simmering. It’s a very low bubble, the temperature is between 160-180 degrees F. This is can be done in a few different pans including a stock pot. A stock pot and is great for making poached chicken, fish and eggs. If you want a really luxurious meal, poach something in olive oil.

-          Boiling: This cooking method involves submerging a food in a hot boiling liquid such as water or broth. I really hate boiling vegetables so I only blanch the veggies for a few minutes, shock them in ice cold water and then sauté them to retain their nutrients and color. This cooking method is essential for cooking pasta. If anyone says they can’t cook, just teach them how to boil water and you will see a little light bulb go off over their head lol.

-          Steaming: This is a method where a boiling liquid is placed below some kind of perforated pan with a food inside. Great cooking method for vegetables, and who says the liquid had to be water? Stock is fantastic for steaming vegetables, gives them a deeper flavor.

-          Simmering: Similar to boiling but at a slower rate. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil then reduce to a medium or medium high temperature to maintain it’s slower bubble. Great for less tender cuts of meat and this temperature is ideal for making soups.

-          Braising: Braising is a cooking method that combines pan searing and cooking a food in a liquid. The food is cooked at a lower heat so the meat doesn’t become tough. The food item is covered with liquid 1/3 way up and often times the cooking liquid is served as a sauce.

-          Stewing: This cooking method is used for tougher cuts of meat and also uses pan searing. After pan searing an item it is placed in a cooking liquid. The cooking liquid covers the food item completely and is cooked low and slow. Low temperature for a long time. This cooking method can done on the stove and then put in the oven or done just on the stove.   

I hope this clears up any confusion people might have about different cooking methods. It would be very embarrassing for you to tell someone that a food was cooked one way when it was really done in another way. Feel free to ask me any questions!!

---Chef’s note: Carry over cooking occurs when a food item is pulled from the oven and it continues to cook from residual heat. This occurs most often in thick cuts of meat being roasted, so just when your roast reaches a certain minimal internal temperature, it might be too late for it. Pull the meat just before it reaches that core temperature and let it cook just a bit more on your counter, it will stay a lot juicier that way. 

There's Nothing Vanilla About Vanilla

Sometimes I feel like vanilla is a very underappreciated ingredient so this blog I feel will help give vanilla a little moral boost! Next to saffron, vanilla is one of the most expensive flavoring that you can purchase. Why you may ask? Well, the bees that once pollinated the vanilla flowers are now extinct and people now pollinate them by hand. I will give a brief explanation as to how they are harvested just to give you an idea as to why they are so expensive.

 When it comes time to harvest the bean pods, they are pretty difficult to prepare. First you have to kill off the tissue inside the bean pod, this can be done by letting the pods dry out in the sun, freezing them, blanching them in hot water, or scratching the pods. Next the pods must go through a sweating process where they are placed under blankets and placed in the sun in a high humidity environment. This sweating process helps the bean pods become flexible and helps turn their pods that familiar brown color. This process also allows the vanilla flavor in the pod really begin to develop and concentrate. Next the pods are dried because they have to be shipped all over the world so any excess moisture has to come out. Next the beans are conditioned by being placed in boxes for a few months and this is where the bulk of their flavor develops. From there they are sorted by grade, things like bean length, aroma and color determine their grade.

There are only a few countries in the world who’s conditions allow for proper vanilla bean growth. There’s the “Bourbon Vanilla” aka Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla from none other that Madagascar, Mexican Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla from the Philippines, and West Indian Vanilla that grows in Central and South America. Out of all of these countries Madagascar is the largest producer and most popular.

When it comes to using vanilla you really want to use the real thing. When you buy real vanilla extract you will find 2-3 main ingredients: Vanilla, some kind of alcohol and maybe a preservative. Real vanilla is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol like vodka or bourbon. This process is called steeping and home made vanilla extract is fantastic for gift giving. You can read online how to make it and how much of each ingredient you need. Making your own vanilla extract is not only cheaper but it gives you a better sense of what exactly is going into your food. If there is one thing that I can give anyone who wants to use vanilla it’s this!! Measure and use vanilla as close to the time you need it in the recipe because it will evaporate. You don’t want to pre-measure vanilla to far ahead of when you really need it because it will evaporate just sitting out and can ruin a recipe. Another tip I can give is, when you use vanilla in a recipe get the most out of that bean pod. Steep the pod in milk if milk is being used, scrape the vanilla bean seeds out for the best flavor and use home made vanilla extract.

I hope this blog helps out anyone who is a little unfamiliar with this ingredient. It is very expensive to harvest but it totally worth the price. A lot of times you can buy the bean in bulk for a great price and they will keep for a long long time in your kitchen. Oh, did I forget to mention that the people pollinate these pods by HAND? That’s insane right? I hear that the men who harvest them, sleep in the trees with guns to prevent anyone from steeling them because they are so precious. Kinda makes you reevaluate that shriveled brown pod huh?