All Sorrows are Less with Bread

"I got a lotta problems with you people, 
and now you're going to hear about it!" 

(Relax... I think we’ll bypass the Airing of Grievances this year, or we’ll be here till Easter!)

It has been a challenging year for most of us in a number of ways. There is no looking back at 2016 without some scarring. It is imperative, then, we find a thing – no matter how seemingly trivial – to hang on to and say, “Ah, but THIS!!! This made it all pale in comparison…”

But a year that insists on throwing death and destruction at you kills the vibe every time you have it within grasp. It’s as if the whole world suddenly started signing Robbie Williams’ “Feel”:

I sit and talk to God

And he just laughs at my plans

We are resilient, though, and refuse to go down without a fight. With mere weeks to close out one of the most monstrous years in memory, a friend sent us an unexpected Festivus gift. It was a bread maker. I never considered a bread maker. But then, Cervantes wrote that "All sorrows are less with bread." Obviously, this gift is the thing to grab and make it the one point of bliss for 2016.

Mom made a few Stromboli, but she doesn’t like working with active yeast. Although I love the idea of making bread, am often annoyed by the inordinately complicated and long process. I am not the baker in the family...

Like Oprah, though, I love bread. 

Oh hush, you know you love bread too! 

We have great bakeries in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge. And the bread display at Trader Joe’s is a thing of fragrant beauty!

source: http://www.ittybittyfoodies.com/

If I’m honest, I do not expect 2017 to be a significant improvement from 2016, and the true beauty of the bread maker is that I’ll be able to maintain our love of bread without having to pay the increasingly ridiculous prices for specialty breads. (Though I also suspect that 2017 will be the year the gym becomes an awfully real thing because between the ice cream machine and the bread maker… OMG, thunder hips! Sure, more to love, but hell on the furniture.)

I think the thing Mom appreciates more than anything is the absence of active yeast and the chance of living the “Feed the bish!” episode from Anthony Bordain’s “Kitchen Confidential” in our own kitchen.

Thank you for keeping us with our irregular contributions here and on Twitter this year. Let’s hope we can share a lot more goodies in the next year! I’m starting one more Pinterest board for recipes I want to try in our bread maker (I’ll let you know how it works out, of course), and you are free to join me in the quest for the perfect loaf/bun/baguette...

If you celebrate, happy holidays! If you do not celebrate, remember that breaking bread with your fellows (whether family, friends, or neighbors) is a celebration of your own humanity. 

In 2017, no matter how hard life and the universe connive, 
please continue to assert your humanity!

Break Bread not Each Other

In ten days, it will be Thanksgiving in the U.S. This is the quintessential American family holiday. It has been so established that Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” still features prominently in the nation’s psyche.

And that holiday unleashes the proverbial “holiday season” that includes a variety of sacred days to a handful of religions plus cultural celebrations, all trying to elicit unity and peace and goodwill. Celebrations may include St. Nicholas’ Day, St. Lucia’s Day, the winter solstice, Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, Festivus, Hogswatch, Pancha Ganapati, Saturnalia, Soyal, Hanukkah, Yule, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, New Year’s…

Sadly, this year there is additional political strife that threatens to take over our lives in their entirety.

Perhaps you may want to consider traveling to any of the states that have approved recreational marijuana, and call any pipe a ceremonial one, share some weed and make peace. 

Pick a state: Alaska, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, or the District of Columbia. Phish background music optional.

(My apologies to Native Americans for the cultural appropriation— 

especially as we end the year about to break yet another treaty.)

I hope that we can remember that there are still many things we can be grateful and thankful for, and that we have more incentives to come together than justifications for disunity.

Whether you make a turkey or tofurky, break bread with a pure heart and remember to be good to one another. Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or offering your presence to those who need a helping hand, give the empathy you expect.

I am not asking you to let go of your principles, but simply that you halt hostilities long enough to share a meal and build each other up rather than tear each other apart.

Share a basket of delicious breadsticks!

http://diethood.com/easy-garlic-parmesan-breadsticks-garlic-dipping-sauce/

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/soft-sesame-breadsticks

http://heatherchristo.com/2011/12/15/spicy-cheese-breadsticks/

http://www.everydayhealthyrecipes.com/healthy-lunchbox-cheesy-breadsticks/

http://damndelicious.net/2015/02/14/easy-garlic-butter-breadsticks/

Fight the power, if you must, but never lose track of the fact that you can do that without attacking one another. To paraphrase the Dalai Lama, be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. Find the way.

Creepy Cuisine: Cat Soup

¿Sopa de gato? The first time I heard someone reference the dish, I was incredulous, so I repeated it. ¿Sopa de gato?

Image Source: http://imgfave.com/view/1115755

I thought about it for a moment. Cat soup? Cat soup?! Maybe they meant some hipster thing where someone actually was marketing soup for cats. It had to be! The alternative was horrifying.

¿Sopa de gato?

Not sure whether it’d be worse if it turned into some sort of racist rant or a sick joke about cruelty to animals, the images it conjured were truly horrific.

But it turns out that sopa de gato (literally cat soup) is neither soup nor made of kittens. Legend has it that the dish was born out of blockades created while the city of Cádiz was besieged by marauding pirates. In my mind, I summarized that the pirates created the cat soup, because it was a lot to take in while in a state of culinary shock...

(Obviously, I thought to myself, these must have been male pirates, because female pirates would've understood the true value of a cat--beyond the witchy one--and never make soup out of them! And speaking of female pirates, if I do NaNoWrimo this year, I may be adding to my steampunkish tale and the time-travelling descendants of Granuaile. Just for fun, check out more about female pirates here http://www.wonderslist.com/10-notorious-female-pirates-in-history/)

Cádiz is a port city in the south of Spain, a small peninsula surrounded by water, and as pirates attacked the town in the 16^th century its residents were left with limited resources to feed themselves. You can make cat's soup as comfort food now, but then it was peasant food borne of necessity.

image source: http://cadenaser.com/ser/2014/02/19/gastro/1392817387_534321.html

Sopa de Gato (Cat Soup)

(original recipe source: https://andalusiancountrykitchen.com/2014/05/21/cats-soup-sopa-de-gato/)

Ingredients

3-5 cloves of garlic (or more to taste)

extra virgin olive oil for sautéing

1/2 loaf day old bread, sliced thinly

sea salt

water (about 5 tablespoons or more for a soggier version)

finely chopped parsley

Method

In an oven-friendly saucepan or casserole, fry the slices of bread in olive oil until golden on both sides. In a separate pan, gently fry the garlic in more olive oil until pale gold, adding a little salt and water (or stock) after a minute or two to prevent the garlic from burning. (Some recipes call for the garlic to boil in the liquid.)

Pour the garlic mixture into the pan with the bread and place in a hot oven. Bake until the bread is golden. (I suggest baking at about 400-degrees for 5-8 minutes, or run under the broiler for 3-5 minutes.) 

Serve sprinkled with the parsley.

Andalusian Country Kitchen suggests enriching the dish by adding beaten eggs and sheep’s cheese stirred into the mixture before letting it bubble over in the oven.

Image source: http://www.asopaipas.com/2010/11/sopas-de-gato.html

Essentially we are talking about bread slices, moistened by stock and seasoned by sautéed garlic—meant to fool the stomach into believing it had a full meal. But you need not stick to the original, meager recipe; you may add herbs and spices, and adorn the dish with shredded cheese or root vegetables, sprinkle with bacon bits or shredded carnitas. Be daring!

Image Source: http://ecijagastronomica.blogspot.com/2013/06/sopa-de-gato_17.html

Why sopa de gato? Maybe they were trying to psyche out the pirates with the name (more horrifying than cannibals?). Maybe it was a misheard phrase and someone butchered sopa de ajo (garlic soup). I don’t really know. But admit it, that is one creepy dish to add to your Halloween menu!

Homemade Pizza Dough for Electric Grill

We have a George Foreman grill with removable plates. I generally use the grill for steaks and chicken breasts. I also use it as a Panini press. We've also grilled mahi mahi, tuna and salmon steaks as well as shrimp…

The grill comes with plates for omelets, muffins, waffles, and a "baking" one. We have made waffles and muffins. The baking plate, I remember reading in the product’s literature, is perfect for making cookies. I laughed when I read that. I put the plates away and figured I’d test it out someday.

Wish I'd had one of these when I went away to college!
Get your own at Amazon.

I was curious about it but there appear to be limited recipes out there for the baking plates.

Of course, I understand. Who wants to bake with an electric grill? But as we live without air conditioner, the thought of being able to quick bake dishes in less than 20 minutes, without heating up the entire kitchen, sounds like a dream!

I haven’t made cookies but I did make Buffalo chicken wings. That was a fun and unexpected treat in mid-July.

What got my curiosity going was pizza. I was watching some cooking show somewhere and they mentioned grilled pizza. So I started looking into it. It took three tests, but we have found a great recipe for the dough that is simple and sturdy enough.

The first test was for the dough alone and its durability. Mom and I discussed it and tweaked over a cup of coffee. Then we did dress rehearsal (two more tests with sauce and toppings).

The sauce, in the two occasions we snacked on pizza this summer, was leftovers from chicken Parmigiana. Both times, I used precooked sausage (two links, thinly sliced), and shredded mozzarella (I did the shredding because there’s no point in paying more for something I can do in less than three minutes).

Before I start preheating the grill (high), I cut out a piece of parchment paper and score the dimensions of the lower plate. While I knead the dough inside the bowl, I use the parchment to make sure I roll out or expand the dough to fit perfectly on the bottom plate.

I use a few tablespoons of sauce; it depends on how thick it is, and spread it on the dough, leaving about ¼” border. Then I top it with about a cup of Mozzarella and the sausage.

By the time I’ve assembled it, the grill is properly heated. I use the parchment paper to transport the tiny pizza – which is square, so technically a Sicilian – and place it in the plate, close the grill, and leave it for approximately 15 minutes (also on high). Then I use the parchment paper to transport to a serving plate and cut it into two servings.

I should use less cheese, because there has been a little spillage and minor cleanup; but the dough itself holds up nicely and can be folded like a proper pizza slice. I suppose it is closer to a thinner, crispier focaccia.

Our plan is to try other varieties of pizza. 

For those interested in homemade pizza, here's a good read from Serious Eats.

Guava Shells: Caribbean Delicacies

There has been very little cooking and kitchen joy around these parts since the tail end of July and for a better part of August. You try to move as little as possible when the heat index reaches three digits and you live without air conditioning.

We were eating strictly for sustenance. I do admit sometimes dinner was a bowl of ice cream—but we had fresh fruit to add to it. It was on those occasions that we ate for joy (although mostly it was for the joy of being near something that had been frozen just seconds before).

Honestly, I was avoiding even reading about cooking!

Today is the second day in a row when our fans are silent and still. So, in our giddiness, we consider all things food -- especially comfort foods -- and one of the first things that came to mind was an after school snack, a perfect treat, that my grandmother used to make.

When I was a girl, we used to have a guava tree in the back of the house. Many an afternoon, I sat under it, playing and eating the fruit. I learned to climb the tree and take its perfectly ripe fruit, while allowing the new ones to work their magic on the vine.

To this day, guava is one of those aromas that make me smile because it transports me to happy moments of childhood in one whiff.

Casquitos or cascos is the word for the shells of the fruit. Cascos de guayaba is a relatively simple dessert. To my knowledge, it's a Caribbean dish -- with Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican versions. 

We picked ripe but firm guavas. Mami would use a small paring knife, and peeled the skin off the fruit and cut them in half. Then, with a small spoon, I’d scoop out the flesh and seeds.

Mami would blanch the shells, and while they cooked, she’d make a simple syrup. After everything cooled, it went into the fridge and we’d have some with a piece of queso blanco.

The guava attains a velvety texture with just a little bite; the salty cheese compliments the thickened, sweet syrup. Sometimes we’d take the snack with crackers and the extra crunch added a new dimension to it. A small cup of Puerto Rican coffee, a shot of pure adrenaline, just made it all the better, though she did not allow me to have one of these until I was a teenager.

I suppose if you have access to fresh guavas, you could make your own; but these days there is a great variety of canned guava shells in syrup. If you are lucky, there are also jarred varieties -- organic versions and those with no preservatives.

You can have it with queso crema, cottage, cream or even a lovely goat cheese; over yogurt or ice cream; or as a topping for coffee or spongecake. You may serve with a sprig of mint or with a little cinnamon, or even a dash of lemon juice and zest.

FYI: the flesh and seeds that we collected, were pureed for a guava paste (a delicacy for another day). 

Ten Foodie Ways to Destress

We are living in stressful times, my friends. It has been an interminably long and uncivil political campaign for a presidential election that has done more to create strife than consensus. Fear and hatred are now both political commodities as well as currency. The news cycle seems to roll around a macabre rollercoaster ride made up of blood, terror and sadness.

SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/HighIntelligenceOffice/photos/a.173494496109372.36478.155828697875952/911359438989537

I can’t fix the world for you, but I can offer you a fun list of foods that will help you destress (some with scientific justifications and everything!):

Chocolate

Dark chocolate regulates the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, along with a number of other health benefits. Candy bars are the easy answer, but that’s limiting. Ice cream, fudge, cake, brownies, cookies!

Linalool Troika!

This is aromatherapy for foodies. According to a study in food chemistry, the smell of linalool-rich foods may help the body deal with stress. Here are three magic foods to induce a worry-less aura: basil, lemons, and mango. I can tell you that I have a pesto dance, a mango ice cream dance, as well as a lemon chicken dance. See? I am living proof…

A Taste of Honey

A spoonful of honey can boost relaxation and combat depression and anxiety. (In fact, herbal tea is the perfect combo as it contains L-theanine, which relieves stress by “inducing a relaxing effect without drowsiness.”

Dancing to "A Taste of Honey" will also result in some giddiness. 

Coconut

A study at Columbia University claims people’s blood pressure recovered faster after a challenge when the subjects were exposed to the scent of coconut. It apparently blunts your fight or flight response and slows your heart rate. Piña Coladas for everyone!

Bananas

Bananas are fully loaded to make you feel good—they contain natural muscle relaxants that help the body manage tension, and they are also rich in tryptophan which releases serotonin (the ultimate natural mood enhancer) in the brain. This is why minions are always so darned happy!

Oysters

Oysters are super rich in zinc, and half a dozen shells will provide over half of the recommended daily allowance and that, with a splash of lemon, will keep the anxiety away, baby.

Are You Nuts?

These days I think, we’re all a little nutty, but to help you relax, I suggest pumpkin seeds and walnuts, which with omega-3 fatty acids, keep stress hormones in check. Lightly toasted they go equally well over desserts as over salads.

There are other foods that may help relax you, as long as you enjoy them in moderation. Build up your strength because summer is young and the year is far from over, and the intensity with which this year has used and abused us is not likely to let up.

Be kind. Be sweet. Embrace tolerance and your own dignity. And if that doesn’t work, let’s hope Keith Richards didn't deplete the planet's supply of drugs and alcohol for the rest of us! 

The Joys of Summer Refreshments

I have been considering “summer” – a concept that these days is defined in meteorological and calendar terms. As a kid, summer began the moment the last bell rang at school!

Certainly, if you ask 100 people what summer means to them, you may get upwards of 60 different answers. To many the obvious answer is outside grilling.

My summer memories are focused on things that aren’t culinary because I grew up in a tropical island (it felt like summer year-round). The moment I returned to the mainland and was suddenly held hostage by the winter months, summer took a new impetus.

As a little kid, I used to love going to the backyard and picking a dozen lemons and limes for lemonade. There are other memories that feel like a silky embrace of a giant glass jar of maví steeping and fermenting in the sun. Of course, I am not sure how easy it may be to find mauby tree bark to make your own. (Trinis and Dominicans make commercial versions available in some areas.)

I also have memories of lazy evenings drinking sangria, or wine, under a trellis of sweetheart roses. And there were the myriad ways I asserted my weirdness by being a little anarchist that refused to drink beverages as they were meant to (combining lemonade and ginger ale, for one). You can always get full of micheladas to refresh yourself!

Did you know June 9th is National Iced Tea Day? NPR did...

There was the creative iced tea period. My take was that adding juices and even fruit to change the taste slightly and keep iced tea fun was brilliant – though back then some of my friends did not agree. Snapple proved them wrong in so many varieties! Some of them, I am certain, buy the really expensive varieties that come in fancily decorated bottles.

These people are no longer my friends…

Moreover, I’m pretty sure I invented the classic Arnold Palmer when I was about six.

It will always be better to make your own than to buy it prepackaged – because you should always control the ingredients that go into it and cut down on the sugar and salt content of most processed beverages.

The best part is enjoying the seasonal fruits available in summer, and any excuse to visit a farmer’s market is always a good one.

Of course, as an adult you also get the distinct pleasure of adding all sorts of boozy accompaniments to your summer refreshments from bourbon to vodka. Remember, though, that these are meant to refresh you in the heat of summer, so if you use booze be clear about it.

Go over to the Pinterest board of summer refreshments and use these suggestions to give summer a new meaning – which will engage your taste buds, your olfactory system, and create memories with a menu.

The Joys of Mango, Part I: What You Can Make with Mango Purée

Some of my earlier memories of growing up in Puerto Rico are peppered with a variety of fruit yielding trees (sitting under them, running around them, carving initials on them, climbing them, picking their fruit and savoring it).

My grandfather’s house had mango, guava, lemon and jobo trees. One neighbor had a very fertile mango tree as well as a palm tree – so I grew up drinking coconut water straight from the source!

Some of these, rather than planted, ended up on the property wild. I understand that after hurricane season, they also got oranges and even an avocado tree.

I always loved the idea that I shared this experience of sitting under a mango tree, shaded from the punishing sun, and eating a mango right off its branches with my great grandmother. In fact, she told me stories of just such a thing when she was a little girl growing up in the southern coast of the island.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized that I probably shared the same experience with my paternal great grandmother – except she would have been in the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent, an ocean, a continent, and two seas away.

It made me love the mango even more to realize it bridged my own multiculturalism. How cool is that?!

At any rate, there are over a thousand varieties of mango and almost every market across the nation(s) sell them year-round. 

This is just a sampling of Hawaiian mangoes.

No matter what variety, when buying the fresh fruit, always purchase the ones that are soft to the touch (with some give rather than hard). Squeeze the mango gently and if it gives a little, it is ready to eat. That is what determines ripeness. The stem will also have a sweet aroma when ripe.

If you find not yet ready to consume mangoes, purchase them and keep them in a paper bag for a day or two.

Mango can be purchased fresh, dried (great in granola and for baking), in purée form, and even as nectar. Mango products include jam, preserves, chutney, yogurt, canned pulp, and as an essence for baking. Because the fruit is cultivated across the globe, you can find an international array of recipes from appetizers and snacks, to main dishes, to desserts.

As a cooking topic, we could spend hours just gleaming through desserts! I want to suggest mango puree as a condiment to keep at hand. You may purchase, but it is easy enough to make and takes only a few minutes to prepare.

How to Cut a Mango

See the video here: 

http://www.marthastewart.com/967631/how-cut-mango

Mango Purée 

Peel, pit and cube a ripe mango. Add about 1 tablespoon of sugar (or your sweetener of choice, like honey but a sweet enough pulp might make sweetener unnecessary) and a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Using a blender or food processor, purée all ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate. Keeps well refrigerated for 3-5 days.

Yield will vary as mangoes vary in size and pulp. You may keep in a lidded jar or a squeeze bottle. Mango puree takes to spices very well, but I suggest you add spice when ready to use rather than make it spicy. That gives you more versatility.

A little vinegar and hot sauce makes for a lovely, fresh and tart topping to meats, salads, ice cream and fruit compotes. A squirt of mango purée will add a new dimension to your BBQ sauce or cocktails.

Here is a sample of the things you can do with your mango purée:

Coconut Mango Pancakes

Shrimp Tapas with Mango Shooters

Thai Red Curry Chicken

Cuban Skirt Steak with Mango Sauce

Sri Lanka: Curried Mango Pork Chops

Spicy Crab Cakes with Mango Purée

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Mango-Habanero Mojo

Pulled Pork with Mango BBQ Sauce

No-Churn Mango Swirl Ice Cream

Mango Pana Cotta

Chinese Mango Pudding

No-Bake Mango Desserts

Mango Mojito

Sriracha Mango Shots