Category — Food for Thought

I am the 0ldest of 10, so when I was growing up quick and easy meals were a priority. Sloppy Joes became a family favorite, or at least Mom’s favorite. And when I married TBG, I quickly discovered that he loves Sloppy Joes too. Cheap: yes; easy: yes; Moi fave: no. But every few months I cave in, and we have Sloppy Joes for dinner. I try to make them a little healthier by substituting ground turkey for ground beef, but… not exactly health food.

Then I came across a recipe in O Magazine for Portobello Mushroom Sloppy Joes. Which led to a visit to my neighborhood Greenmarket: we stopped at the mushroom booth and bought 2lb of portobello mushrooms for about $6.

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Since my India adventure a couple months ago I’ve already begun to deplete my supply of spices and chai that I hauled back. I have a very good Indian restaurant in my neighborhood, but I decided to go investigate NYC’s Little India in more detail. I’d been in the neighborhood before, but now I was an informed consumer: I know what’s authentic, what’s touristy, and what things cost in India. So on a gorgeous sunny day I spent a few hours investigating the neighborhood around Lexington and 28th Street, aka Curry Hill. [Read more →]

The cupcake frenzy hasn’t diminished, and these cute reversible reusable cupcake wraps won’t be tardy for the party!

These colorful wraps are practical and inexpensive: Party Wraps are 12 for $4.99!

They’re reversible, and come in different patterns. Black and white for an elegant wedding? Blue and gold to celebrate Moi 3 nieces and nephews who were accepted at ND? Pink and blue for a baby shower? Snowmen for a Christmas party? Hearts for Valentine’s Day? Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Moi tip: Buy before April 15: use coupon code GRAND and you can buy 4, get 1 free!

No, I’m not lunching in Paris today (I will be soon!) but that’s the fab title of a new memoir by an American woman who has fallen in love with Paris…and a Frenchman…and French cooking.

Mark your calendar if you are in NYC on April 7 – Elizabeth Bard will be  at Barnes and Nobles to discuss her new book, Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes.

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The past couple months I’ve shared some of my favorite shopping destinations in Delray Beach; here’s where we like to eat in Delray, and why:

• Lemongrass Asian Bistro: 561.278.5050, 420 E Atlantic Avenue
  • Lobster Monster
  • Holy Snapper

  

• Kilwin’s: 561. 278.0808, 402 E Atlantic Avenue
  • churned ice creams
  • fudge
  • pecan turtle apples

  

• Vic and Angelo’s Enoteca: 561. 278.9570, 290 E Atlantic Avenue
  • pizza
  • grouper sandwiches

  

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Back again at our Sunday outdoor market, Mignette dragged us to the cheese booth. TBG claims he’s sampled there before, but this was Moi first visit to Ardith Mae Farmstead Goat Cheese. It won’t be my last visit.

First step, sampling the cheese plate:

Selling cheese for barely a year, Ardith Mae Farm was established by ex-New Yorkers; they sell goat cheeses at markets in New York and Pennsylvania. The cheeses were great: Moi fave was the feta, salty and firm; TBG was torn between the doolan and the mammuth (we were told they’re named for people around the farm). Mignette couldn’t decide: she liked them all.

Then for Sunday night dinner, steaks and a salad de chèvre:

Bon Appétit!

I grew up in the suburbs. Chicken comes cut up and wrapped in plastic; and eggs are white, and packed by the dozen in cartons.

Brown eggs? Gross! Clearly diseased.

Or so I thought. When we moved to Paris, one of my big adjustments was that all the eggs were brown. With big orange yolks. And not refrigerated.  All of them. At the marchés and the grocery stores. Hmmm….who knew? And often times they were fresh from the chicken: meaning unwashed. Gross. But, over the years, this became normal. I even spent one frantic day with bff J searching all over Paris to find a few white eggs that we could color for her childrens’ Easter baskets: yes, we finally found 6.  They were expensive.

Moi tip: I was attending a cooking class in Paris with a group of other American expats. We were separating eggs for the recipe, and bien sur, someone broke the yolk. Naturally, l’Américaine dipped her eggshell into the bowl to scoop out the yolk. Le Chef was horrified! These were typical unwashed fresh eggshells: covered with nasty chicken poop (sorry!) We Americans are used to the sanitized eggs we buy at the supermarket, the shells are white and sparkly clean. We were immediately instructed to discard the now ruined bowl of eggs. And in the future, remove yellow bits with a spoon. Good to know.

Now that I’m back in the US, do I buy white eggs at the grocery? Mais non! TBG and I buy our eggs from Knoll Crest Farm at the bi-weekly Greenmarket on Broadway outside Columbia University. And of course, they’re brown eggs (but lightly washed, we’re assured). And they have the bright orange yolks, just like we had in Paris.

The incredible, edible egg!

When we lived in Copenhagen, we became fans of ebelskiver: little Danish puffed pancakes, filled with fruit (typically apples, since the Danish word for apple slices is æbleskiver) and sold at streetstands and in many bakeries and cafes. Freshly made in the home to celebrate Christmas, and sold frozen in the grocery stores for easy treats year-round, we quickly became addicts! Our return to the US had us scouring the internet to find the ebelskiver pan, a skillet with seven round indentations for cooking these little puffs on top of the stove. hint: ebelskivers look a lot like Dunkin Donut munchkins!

Now just a few years later, the ebelskiver pan is sold at most cooking stores, and has been featured on many TV cooking shows like Rachel Ray. These shows added very American touches: the ebelskiver were filled not only with fruit, but with chocolate, cheeses, sauces and spices. I even upgraded my cast iron skillet for a lighter, non-stick pan from Bed Bath and Beyond, and now have a 2nd pan from Williams-Sonoma!

The challenge was learning how to make and cook ebelskivers. Naturally, I first turned to the internet. There are many complicated recipes out there, involving beaten egg whites, whisked yolks, buttermilk and sour cream, and lots of utensils. Then, to make the filling: chopping, sauteing, and spicing fruits. Delicious, but a lot of work! Williams-Sonoma recently started selling an ebelskiver mix, which cut down on the work, but still involved beating egg whites and whisking yolks.

Moi tip: WS even has a cookbook full of sweet and savory ebelskiver recipes!

Recently I simplified things and experimented with using buttermilk pancake mix: voila! It worked fine. The batter was light and fluffy, I was able to use it just as I used my home-made recipe, and they turned out great! Which is better: I think the homemade. Which will I make? The ebelskivers from the mix: its just so much easier and faster when I’m whipping up a batch for family or guests for Sunday brunch. Usually I just fill them with purchased jams, preserves, or chocolate sauces, followed by a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or if I’m making savory, a bit of jarred pesto or pasta sauce and a bit of feta cheese are yummy.

Moi tip: Ebelskiver need to be turned over so they can cook on both sides. The TV shows and cooking stores make this seem alot more complicated than it is: they sell special utensils that look like chopsticks, that involve using both hands. Forget it! I just flip them over by sliding a spoon underneath the cooked side, and quickly flipping them over. I’ve also used my wooden toast tongs, which at least uses only 1 hand, but the spoon works really well!

Ebelskiver are very similar to poffertjes, little Dutch puffed pancakes. Poffertjes are not filled, and are served with different fresh fruit toppings, I like them with strawberries and whipped cream.

Namaste!

She’s Shopping India:
Indian food is full of rich colors, tastes and scents. Cardamom, anise, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, ginger, tumeric and nutmeg: an enticing blend.

And while Starbucks has not yet broken into India, Moi has no problem finding a chai latte, extra hot. Chai is the Hindi word for tea, and while shopping for silks, pashminas or gemstones, vendors offer a cup of chai, milky and steaming hot, typically served in small clay cups. I prefer the masala chai, spicy and slightly sweet, over the strong black chai.

The street bazaars are crammed with spice vendors, pungent kernels brimming in baskets overflowing with color and scent, or in large glass canisters displaying the many choices.

After dining, you are traditionally served a small box or bowl of anise seed (sof) to freshen the breath and aide digestion. The anise can be served alone, or beside a bowl of sugar crystals to add sweetness to the spice. But Moi favorite is the colorful anise and sugar blend, already mixed, with added flavors such as coconut, beetle nuts, peppermint or rose.

Moi tip: Tourist shops sell the anise mixture for as much as 200 rupees ($4), which doesn’t sound like much. But the same small packets can be found in the bazaars for 25 rupees, plus alot more fun selecting your favorite anise blend from the 4 or 5 offered.

There are many advantages of living abroad, one of which is discovering new foods and ingredients. Like all bored expat spouses (remember Julia in Julie and Julia) Moi needed something to do while living in Paris, and ended up taking lots of cooking classes. An ingredient I had seen in the grocery, but never purchased, is ground almonds.

CoMo bff S and Moi met in Paris, and have taken many cooking classes together. Now that we’re both ex-expats, we enjoy sharing our culinary discoveries with our US family and friends. S developed this recipe to share her love of chocolate and almonds, and to make a standard chocolate cake or brownie into a truly special dessert.

And that’s why S won first prize in a local baking contest this month!

First Place: Chocolate Almond Cake

•   3 eggs
• 4.4 ounces chocolate
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup ground almonds
• 1/3 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate in large bowl over boiling water. Whisk in butter and sugar. Remove from heat. Whisk in eggs, flour and almonds. Bake in paper-lined 8-inch pan for 20 minutes. If you cook this a shorter time, it is gooey like a flourless cake, and I serve it with a raspberry sauce or a crème anglaise. If you cook it 15-20 minutes longer, it is more like a brownie but still gooey, and is best topped with fresh raspberries. — CoMo bff  S

Moi tips:

• if you’re traveling in Paris (and other European cities) ground almonds are readily available at a very reasonable price. They’re packaged in small plastic bags, and freeze great. Throw a few bags in your suitcase: much easier than grinding the almonds at home. I purchase Vahiné amandes en poudre, and freeze them until needed.
• crème anglaise is an elegant finish to many French desserts, and not difficult to make. But Moi learned a tip for serving crème anglaise from the Barefoot Contessa, and of course shared it with CoMo bff S, and now is sharing it with you: Buy a carton of Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream, allow to thaw until liquid, and serve. Voila!

Bon Appétit!