TRIED AND TRUE RECIPES

CAPPUCINO MOUSSE

2011-05-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Mousse means foam in French. Tiny air bubbles whipped into a rich pudding like sweet preparation provides the light, foamy texture and silky-smooth mouthfeel in this dessert item is known as mousse. Whipped cream is usually the basis of the foam while whipped egg whites may add further lightness. Flavorings vary widely. In this recipe it is milk and very strong espresso coffee, thus the name cappuccino mousse.

The only caveat in its preparation is when to fold the whipped cream and egg white foam into the cooling liquid. Fold it in too soon and the liquid and foam will separate. But fold it in too late when gelatin begins setting the liquid and you cannot make a smooth foam; the partly set mousse remains chunky. But don’t despair—this is just esthetic imperfection, it doesn’t harm the final product (in the photo this is exactly what happened). Your guests don’t need to know that mousse needs to be perfectly homogenous as long as you don’t point it out.

1 c milk

1¼ c sugar, divided ¾, ¼ and ¼ c

1 packet unflavored gelatin

¼ c cold water

6 Tbsp fresh-brewed very strong espresso

1 T orange zest, finely minced

2 egg whites

1 c heavy cream

Ø Heat milk with ¾ cup sugar in a small, heavy sauce pan. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water, let rest for a minute and add to hot milk. Continue heating while thoroughly blending until quite hot but well below boiling. Add espresso and orange zest, stir and chill. Monitor often to catch the exact time to fold in egg whites and cream. The liquid should just begin to set (at about 75⁰ to 80⁰F).

Ø Beat egg whites until it starts to get thick, then add ¼ cup sugar and continue whipping until soft peak stage. Remove from the bowl.

Ø In the same bowl whip cream with remaining ¼ cup sugar.

Ø Fold both egg white foam and whipped cream into the setting liquid with a rubber spatula. Spoon into eight 4-ounce ramekins and chill.

Serves 8.

WALNUT KISSES

2011-05-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

If you like kisses, you’ll love these little cookies called walnut kisses. Their flesh is mainly ground walnuts, and the glue holding the sweetened walnuts into a cohesive mass is egg white and eggs. Even better, if you are concerned about your weight and/or cholesterol, there is no butter or oil added to the dough, it only contains the natural walnut oil. One egg in a batch adds a bit of cholesterol but the cookies may be prepared using egg whites only.

Using a food processor, the dough is prepared in a minute. Hand processing is more time consuming and takes some muscle work before the dough is cohesive and workable.

2¼ c walnuts

1 c + 2 Tbsp sugar

¾ c flour

1 egg

1 egg white

(or use 2 egg whites)

Grind walnuts, sugar and flour in a food processor until very fine, about a minute. Slowly add egg and egg white (or two egg whites) through the feeding tube and process until a cohesive dough is formed in a few seconds. Dump it on a flour-dusted work surface, and shape it into 24 to 28 round balls.

Preheat oven to 325⁰F.

Cover two baking sheets with parchment or foil. Place balls 1½ inches apart and press a small walnut piece in the center of each. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven while still slightly soft to the touch.

Peel cookies off paper or foil after they completely cooled.

Makes 24 to 28 kisses.

POPPY SEED ROULADES

2011-04-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Though this is not hard to prepare, it is not for the novice baker. With baking experience, you have 30 to 40 minutes total work before the roulades are ready for the oven.

But there is a trick. Ground poppy seed is best when fresh-ground and so far I was unable to find any appliance that grinds the tiny seeds except a genuine hand poppy seed grinder. If all fails, buy ground poppy seeds that come in cans.

Dough for two roulades

2¼ c all-purpose flour

¼ c sugar

1 tsp salt

1½ tsp dry yeast

¾ to 1 c milk

8 oz unsalted butter, chilled

1 Tbsp lemon zest

1 egg yolk (reserve a little for egg wash)

Poppy seeds filling (for two roulades)

6 oz poppy seed, ground

14 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp lemon zest

½ c milk

½ c raisins

To prepare dough, combine dry ingredients, including yeast. Cut in cold butter until pea sized.

Combined egg yolk (reserving a little for the egg wash), lemon zest and milk and add to dry pastry. Kneed for a few minutes to form soft, pliable dough. Cover and chill.

To prepare filling, combine all ingredients in a small pan and heat gently for a minute, stirring all the time. May need more milk so it’s spreadable. Put aside, cover and cool.

Let chilled dough warm up for about 30 minutes, cut it into two and roll each into a thin rectangle on a floured work surface. Spread half of filling on each, spreading it uniformly within half inch from edges. Roll up tightly starting from the longer side, moisten and seal edges, and place on parchment-covered baking sheet seam side down.

Combine reserved egg yolk with a little water and brush top and sides of roulades with this egg wash. Let rise covered for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350⁰F.

Brush roulades again with egg wash and dock top with a fork.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until firm and slightly brown on top. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes two roulades, about 15 thin slices each.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

2011-03-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Most people with sweet tooth agree: flavors on the top of the list are chocolate and lemon. I have a serious sweet tooth and I love both flavors. Since I bake regularly, these two often receive frequent attention.

Today it was lemon and I spotlighted it in an old-fashioned lemon meringue pie. Over the many years of baking I experimented and tested lemon meringue pies (as well as their close cousins and siblings) yet I found that the simplest is the best. The recipe below could not be simpler though a beginning baker would have a nice baking challenge to perfect it. For the more experienced baker it is half hour’s work the most, once the pre-baked crust is ready and waiting.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Prebaked crust

1 c sugar

6 Tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp salt

½ c cold water

6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 egg yolks

1 Tbsp lemon zest

1½ c boiling water

2 Tbsp butter

Meringue

4 egg whites at room temperature

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp vanilla

½ c sugar

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small heavy saucepan. Gradually stir in cold water and lemon juice, stirring constantly with a wire whip or a large spoon. When smooth, stir in egg yolks and lemon zest, then slowly the boiling water and butter while keeping up stirring. Bring slowly to boil over very low heat while stirring gently until thickens (5 to 8 minutes). Pour into baked pie shell.

2. Preheat oven to 400⁰F.

3. To make the meringue, beat egg whites with cream of tartar, when soft peaks appear, add vanilla and gradually pour in sugar. Keep whipping until foam is soft, firm but avoid overbeating to a stiff foam stage.

4. Spread meringue over hot filling leaving the top raggedy.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes until top is nice a brown. Cool, then chill before serving.

HUNGARIAN SZÉKELY GULYÁS

2011-01-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

HUNGARIAN SZÉKELY GULYÁS, an interesting and flavorful combination of two neighboring cuisines, Hungarian and Romanian, is a favorite in southern Hungary and southwestern Romania where people of the two countries are intermingled as the result of centuries of political squabbling over border position. In general, Hungarians don't use much sauerkraut in their cooking but Romanians do -- in this dish the cooking style of Hungarian gulyas and sauerkraut are combined resulting in an unusual and terrific flavor.

1½ lb lean pork, in small bite-sized pieces

8 oz (one large) onion, finely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp caraway seeds

1 tsp fresh-ground black pepper

1½ tsp salt

1½ lb sauerkraut, rinsed under running water

4 Tbsp (2 oz) sour cream

Ø Brown meat on high heat in heavy sauté pan in small amount of vegetable oil (may need to do it in several batches). Remove from pan and place into cooking pot.

Ø In the same sauté pan cook onion on medium heat adding little more oil, during last minute add garlic, paprika, caraway seeds, pepper and salt. When onion is golden, add these to meat in the cooking pot.

Ø Sauté well-drained sauerkraut lightly in a film of oil in the sauté pan. Combine with onion and meat, adding little water or wine if needed. Simmer for 1½ hours over very low heat, adding more liquid as needed.

Ø Just before serving, stir some liquid from pot into sour cream in a small bowl and combine with the sauerkraut dish.

Serve with fresh-cooked rice.

Serves 6.

Volunteer Organizations of Amador County

2010-12-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

(This is a temporary post until the brochure is printed)

Information Prepared by George Erdosh, January, 2011

Please email changes, additions, corrections and updates to howfoodswork@volcano.net

Volunteer loading truck for delivery at Wheels-on-Meals

Amador County Animal Shelter (Animal Control)

Volunteer help is needed for dog walking, training, adoption fairs, digital photography of animals, internet postings, search for rescue organizations, and transport to rescue sites. 223-6378. animalcontrol@amadorgov.org; www.amadorgov.org; (click on Departments; Animal Control).

Volunteer at the Animal Shelter Walking Dogs

Amador County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate)

Volunteer opportunities include representing abused and neglected children in the courts and helping to find safe, permanent, and nurturing homes for them. 223-1485.

Amador County Library

The library offers a variety of skilled volunteer opportunities to make a meaningful contribution to library programs, operations, fundraising events and other community engagement functions. Skilled volunteers have opportunities to lead projects, work with teams of staff and other volunteers. Volunteers also deliver library material to housebound patrons. 223-6305 or 223-6400. cmurdock@amadorgov.org; www.co.amador.ca.us (click on Services; Public Service; Library).

Friends of the Library Volunteers Setting up for Book Sale

Amador County Recreation Agency

Volunteers are needed to help with park improvements and with the many ACRA events. 223-6349. ACRA@co.amador.ca.us; http://www.goacra.org/support.html.

Amador Historical Society

Volunteers are often needed to help at the museum and their visitors’ center in Jackson. 257-0332. the_jebians@hotmail.com; http://amadorhistory.com.

Amador Senior Center

Volunteers are needed in several positions, such as staffing front desk and administrative duties; help on Commission on Aging. 223-0442. beposbabe@yahoo.com.

Amador Senior Peer Counseling

The organization trains to provide confidential counseling to seniors who are isolated, depressed, dealing with family issues or the normal issues of aging. The counselors meet with their assigned senior in his or her home and make sure that the person is getting the care and services needed from community providers. The counselor usually meets with the client on a weekly basis for as long as it takes to help the senior feel better about the problems presented in the beginning. 296-4963. path@volcano.net.

Amador Stars

Volunteer opportunities in the annual large Camp-Out-for-Cancer fundraiser, also driving their cancer vans with patients to one of the Valley’s treatment centers. 223-1246. info@amadorstars.org; www.amadorstars.org.

Amador Student Music Fund

This organization uses volunteers who are willing to teach young people ages 7 to 17 in the areas of various musical instrument lessons and music theory. 296-4754. asmfund@gmail.com; http://www.amadorstudentmusicfund.org.

Amador-Tuolomne Community Action Agency

Volunteer opportunities in mentoring. 533-1397. elinehan@atcaa.org; for other volunteer opportunities 223-1485. http://infonettc.net.

American Red Cross (Capital Region Chapter)

Volunteers play a vital role in fulfilling the Red Cross mission to assist people in disaster situations, locally, nationally and internationally. 916 993-7073. http://redcrosscrc.org. Local contact 295-2116 reinius@volcano.net.

A-Pal Humane Society

Volunteers participate in fundraising programs, adoption outreach, publicity and newsletter, fostering cats and kittens, feral cat program, clerical work and community education. 223-0410. www.amadorapal.org.

Common Ground Senior Services

Volunteers package for or deliver foods to the elderly and underserved communities. 223-3015. caubert@cgseniors.org; http://cgseniors.org.

Disaster Healthcare Volunteers

Local medical and non-medical volunteers are needed to form an Amador response unit to serve local communities during a disaster. Register online. www.healthcarevolunteers.ca.gov.

Eldorado National Forest

Projects for volunteers range from a single day project to a long term undertaking lasting for several months. Projects include trail work, campground host, bird surveys, conservation education, fire lookout, Adopt-A-Trail, information receptionist and wilderness restoration projects. Other possible volunteer positions include working in the field with biologists, botanists, archaeologists, recreation rangers, and other Forest Service personnel. 530 295-5610. kschroeder@fs.fed.us; http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/volunteering.

First 5 Amador

Volunteers help to promote, support, and enhance the optimal development of Amador County's children from up to five years of age. Since working with children, volunteers are required to be fingerprinted. 257-1092. nina@first5amador.com; www.first5amador.com.

Foothill Fitness (Active Aging)

Following training sessions, volunteers lead regular fitness classes for seniors in several locations throughout the county. Contact through the Amador Senior Center 223-0442. barefootwitch@yahoo.com or melnbob@volcano.net.

Volunteer Instructor at Foothill Fitness

Foster Care

Volunteers provide foster home for needy children. 223-3888 or 800 655-8350. www.ea.org.

Hospice of Amador and Calaveras

Volunteer opportunities in thrift shop, fund raising, family support, grief and grief-busters. 223-5500. ann.metherd@hospiceofamador.org or info@hopsiceofamador.org; http://hospiceofamador.org.

Volunteers Behind Checkout at Hospice Thrift Store

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park

Volunteers help staff museum, guide school tours and care for museum collection. 296-7488. info@parks.ca.gov; http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=553.

Interfaith Foodbank

Volunteers help collecting, packaging and distributing food for those in need. 267-9006. info@interfaithfoodbank.org; www.interfaithfoodbank.org.

Kennedy Mine Foundation

Volunteer positions are available for a variety of activities at the Kennedy mine, including tour guides, helping in fundraising and restoration. 223-9542. fblauvelt@goldrush.com.

Main Street Theatre Works

The Balcony Club gives you the opportunity to join other volunteers who do everything from creating sets, acquiring props, sewing costumes, controlling the lights and sounds, ushering attendees and the myriad of other tasks that make for a successful stage production. 295-4499. info@mstw.org; http://www.mstw.org/company.html.

Master Gardeners

Master Gardener volunteers staff an information desk in the University of California Cooperative Extension office, where they answer questions, diagnose plant problems, and give horticultural assistance to home gardeners. 223-6482 or 223-6838. http://ceamador.ucdavis.edu. For more information about becoming a Master Gardener, contact Sue Mosbacher at smosbacher@ucdavis.edu.

Mokelumne Wilderness Volunteers

Volunteer opportunities in visitor education, field work and data collection, trail patrol, trail-building and maintenance, resource preservation and campsite restoration, front counter staffing, fundraising, public outreach, internal organizational communications, external communications. 295-4251. mmusemeyer@fs.fed.us; www.fs.fed.us.

Nature Abounds

This organization needs help in observing the "wild" in your community. A Watch the Wild volunteer observes and reports what is taking place in the community from trees and plants to weather and wildlife activity. As little as ten minutes of observations help to understand how local eco-systems are changing. http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp475713.jsp.

Operation Care

Most volunteer help needed in production and participation of the annual variety fundraiser show in support of local victims of domestic violence. 223-2897. lzender@att.net; www.operationcare.org.

Search and Rescue

This unit of the Amador Sheriff’s office uses pre-trained volunteers to assist in search and rescue situations. 223-6500. amadorsheriff@co.amador.ca.us; www.co.amador.ca.us (click on Government; Sheriff).

Sutter Amador Hospital Auxiliary

Auxiliary volunteers operate a gift shop, a thrift shop, assist in clerical work, front desk information, help in pediatrics, radiology and operate concierge carts. 223-7514. http://www.sutteramador.org/communityrelations/volunteers_auxiliary.html.

Tri County Wildlife Care

The aim of this organization is to improve the quality of local wildlife through education and public awareness, and giving the sick, injured, orphaned and displaced animals a second chance. 267-5867.

Upcountry Community Center

This Center uses volunteers to provide a variety of programs, both educational and entertaining, predominantly in the upcountry community of the County. Most programs are family oriented. 296-2785. rturner@atcaa.org; www.upcountrycommunity.blogspot.com.

Volcano Theater Company

Volunteers help in many aspects of putting on a play in Volcano including being part of the cast, set construction, set decoration, costumes, and management. 296-2525. info@volcanotheatre.org; www.volcanotheatre.org.

Volunteer Fire Fighter

The Amador Fire Protection District uses volunteers who want to contribute to their community. Volunteer firefighters receive training and appropriate equipment. Apply online http://www.co.amador.ca.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8455.

CHOCOLATE TORTE WITH WALNUT ICING (Puli Torte)

2010-12-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

Using mere quarter cup flour, this creation qualifies as a true torte. Though this is not for the beginner bakers, with care it should turn out perfect, and this is not hard to make.

Ingredients

7 eggs at room temperature, separated

6 Tbsp sugar

⅛ tsp salt

½ c semisweet chocolate chips (or 2 oz unsweetened chocolate plus 8 tsp sugar)

¼ c flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

Prepare one or two 8-inch torte pans by greasing side and bottom generously. Cut round wax paper to fit pan or pans, and cover bottom with wax paper, then butter or oil wax paper. Dust sides and bottom with flour. Shake out excess.
Beat egg yolks, sugar and salt by hand with a wire whip until thicken and lemon colored, about one minute.
Grind chocolate chips with flour in a food processor until fine. Stir into egg yolks.
Whip egg whites with the wire whip attachment of a food mixer for a minute at low to medium speed, add cream of tartar, increase speed and whip until soft peak stage.
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Gently fold egg white foam into egg yolk-chocolate mixture until uniform.
Bake until firm and skewer comes out clean from the center about 55 minutes if using one pan, 20 to 24 minutes in two pans. Cool for an hour on a wire rack then remove torte from the pan. Peel wax paper from bottom.
Cut into two layers if you used a single torte pan; spread half of the icing between layers of the torte, then ice top and sides with the rest of the icing.

Walnut Icing

Ingredients

6½ oz butter at room temperature

1 c walnuts

10 Tbsp icing sugar

4 tsp rum or brandy

milk as needed to thin icing.

Cream butter with the paddle attachment of a food mixer for three minutes. Drizzle in rum or brandy and whip for a few more seconds.
Grind walnuts with icing sugar in a food processor until very fine, about a minute.
Blend walnuts into the butter mixture, sprinkle with a little milk if consistency is too thick.

GREAT MOUSSAKA RECIPES

2010-12-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

MOUSSAKA ORIGINALLY came from Turkey but neighboring countries adopted it with changes to suit their own taste buds. I came across absolutely great moussaka dishes during my recent visit to Greece. They varied from region to region and the recipe below is a compromise to suit American tastes.

The first step, frying eggplant slices, is messy and time consuming. I prefer to sprinkle slices with oil and bake them in the oven. Try this recipe and let me know any improvement you can suggest.

In Turkey and Greece, the ground meat is lamb but feel free to substitute beef or pork, or a combination.

3 lb eggplants, peeled, sliced lengthwise (do not salt)

1½ lb large potatoes, unpeeled

8 oz onion, chopped

1¼ lb ground lamb or beef or pork

1 tsp salt

1 lb tomatoes, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 whole cloves

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 bay

¼ tsp allspice

1 tsp fresh-ground black pepper

2 Tbsp tomato paste

¼ c red wine

¼ c dry breadcrumbs

2 c cheese sauce (recipe below)

Ø Brown eggplant slices in oil or in a hot oven after drizzling both sides with vegetable oil.

Ø Cook whole potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes, drain and cool. Leave them unpeeled and slice lengthwise into thin slices.

Ø Sauté onion and when beginning to brown, add garlic then gradually add ground meat and brown. Add tomatoes salt and spices and simmer for 30 minutes, adding more water if needed. Add tomato paste and wine and continue simmering for 10 minutes.

Ø Scatter some of the breadcrumbs in a well-oiled baking dish and cover with eggplant slices then half of the meat-tomato sauce. Sprinkle the sauce with more breadcrumbs, cover sauce with potato slices, then with the rest of the sauce. Sprinkle the sauce with remaining breadcrumbs and cover with cheese sauce.

Ø Bake uncovered in 350?F oven until cheese sauce is beginning to brown and bubbling, about 45 minutes.

Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 10.

Cheese Sauce

5 Tbsp butter

5 Tbsp flour

2 c milk

grating of nutmeg

½ tsp fresh-ground black pepper

½ tsp salt

2 egg yolks

½ c grated parmesan

Ø Prepare a medium (blond) roux with butter and flour, slowly whisk in milk, stirring constantly with a wire whip to avoid lumps. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Ø Add spices and salt. Temper egg yolks by slowly adding the hot sauce, stirring constantly, until very warm then add these tempered yolks to the sauce along with the parmesan. Stir until uniform. The sauce should be thin so it can be spread easily. Thin with milk to the consistency of heavy cream.

Makes 2 cups of cheese sauce.

ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES--NOTHING TASTES BETTER

2010-11-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

The only way vegetables can compete in flavor with oven roasted vegetables is stir frying. For roasting, however, only the relatively low-moisture and sturdy root vegetables can qualify. High moisture vegetables, like summer squash, end up as dried little inedible pellets. Roasting is very easy though it takes time.

Ingredients

1½ lb root vegetables, e.g. potatoes (may leave them unpeeled), parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, turnips, rutabagas, cut into coarse pieces (see note below)

1 medium onion, peeled and cut into large chunks (attached to root so rings remain together)

3 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped or 1 Tbsp dried, crushed

½ tsp salt

½ tsp fresh-ground black pepper

2 Tbsp vegetable oil, olive oil, butter or combination

6-8 cloves garlic, unpeeled

Ø Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Ø Mix all vegetables, onion, rosemary, salt and black pepper with oil or butter in a large shallow baking pan. Reserve unpeeled garlic cloves that you add halfway through baking.

Ø Place baking pan into preheated oven and flip and stir vegetables with a spatula about every 10 minutes. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes or until all vegetables have deep brown color.

Note: cut vegetables to larger pieces if quick cooking, smaller pieces if slow cooking, so all end up roasted just done but not overdone.

Serves 3 to 4.

HAVE CHILDREN MESS UP YOUR KITCHEN

2010-11-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

Cooking with children guarantees a mess in the kitchen that is hard to duplicate unless an earthquake strikes your house.

Yet discouraging children from taking part in cooking and baking projects is
a big mistake. Most kids love to cook, love to eat and find it irresistible to
get their hands up to their elbows into food ingredients — especially
dough. Discouraging them may easily turn them away from working in the kitchen permanently.
I have taught children's cooking classes (ages 9 to 12) a number of times and, no
matter how carefully I instruct them, the kitchen invariably ends up very,
very messy. But with your good management and foresight, children do an admirable job cleaning up the chaos. A large drop sheet under the table helps, too.
Don’t hesitate to include one or two of your child’s friends when undertaking a kitchen project. Have all ingredients, equipment and a recipe ready, but let them do the measuring.

Walk them through the recipe step by step and supervise with minimal interference as they assemble ingredients. Having no previous negative experience, children will undertake even difficult techniques without hesitation.

By age seven or eight children are able to work safely with sharp knives after you give them basic instruction. Make sure the knife is sharp — dull knives are more apt to cut fingers — sharp knives are easier to control. Watch to make sure their fingers are tucked in and never under the blade.

Use good equipment to teach children from the beginning. Cheap tools discourage efficient kitchen work.

Whether cooking or baking, eating the final product is as much fun as
preparation, even if things don't turn out too great. As cold weather
approaches, plan kitchen work with your children or grandchildren regularly
— they will love you for it.

TOO MANY EGG WHITES--BAKE BISHOP'S BREAD

2010-11-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Dedicated bakers invariable end up with too many egg whites. Many baking recipes called for egg yolks only to both enrich and add pretty golden color to baked goodies. If you detest waste, you don’t discard the extra egg whites but accumulate them in a glass jar in the freezer. Egg whites freeze very well and on defrosting they work in any recipe just like fresh. You can whip them into thick foam with no problem.

You can use extra egg whites in many recipes. Here are a few examples: use two egg whites to substitute one whole egg in cookies, in macaroons, almond cookies and fruit whips; in white cake, butter cake and angel food cake; and finally in bishop’s bread.

Keep these measurements in mind: 1 egg white=2¼ tablespoons; 1 cup has 7 egg whites.

Bishop’s bread is whipped sweetened egg whites with flour and flavoring ingredients folded in, usually baked in a loaf pan.

Ingredients

7 egg whites (1 c)

½ tsp cream of tartar

¾ c sugar

1 c all-purpose flour

½ c walnuts, coarsely chopped

½ c raisins or other dried fruit (may be a combination)

½ c semisweet chocolate chips

1 tsp finely minced lemon zest

¼ tsp salt

Mix walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips in a bowl and blend in lemon zest.
Start preheating oven to 350?F.
Whip egg whites with cream of tartar in a mixer with whipping attachment, starting at slow speed for a minute then increase speed to medium-high until the soft-peak stage. Turn speed to slow and add sugar gradually. Turn whipped egg whites into a large wide bowl.
Sift flour on top of egg whites little bit at a time and fold it in along with part of the nut-fruit-chocolate chip mixture. Continue with flour and nut mixture, folding gently until all is added and totally incorporated (avoid overworking that tends to deflate the egg white foam).
Pour into parchment- or foil-lined bread pan or well-greased tube pan with removable bottom.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Yields 16 to18 slices.

POPCORN’S SECRET INGREDIENT: STEAM

2010-10-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

The baking scent of cinnamon rolls in the mall, the aroma of brownies nearly ready in the oven and roasting coffee beans in the café are scents that surround you with anticipation of intense pleasure while hinting a failure in will power. The popping of popcorn kernels attack your senses with triple weapons: heavenly scents, pleasing popping sounds of anticipation and the amazing sight of the tiny kernels turning into snowy fluffs ten times the original size. And perhaps the hope of a good movie to come.

Butter-flavored popcorn you buy at the movies has no butter, just butter flavor through an added chemical called diacetyl. (This chemical may produce a rare disease called bronchiolitis obliterans in the lungs of workers working with popcorn, and if you inhale microwaved butter-flavored popcorn a lot, you may be a victim, too.)

Popcorns are treasured American snack foods loved by just about everyone, nearly as much as ice cream. Popped corn is pleasing to eat having soft, tender mouthfeel, lovely appearance and a real treat on taste buds especially when the fluff is enriched with a touch of real melted butter and a light sprinkling of salt.

Raw popping corn on the cob looks just like dried corn-on-the-cob corn with some difference in its composition that enables each kernel to produce mini explosion when heated, then turn into popped corn. The difference is in a tiny amount of moisture entrapped in the center within a starchy mass called endosperm, which is the bulk of corn kernels. This starch is what turns into the white fluffy popcorn. There is a tough protecting skin, the pericarp, surrounding the starch endosperm, so tough that the corn may be preserved for centuries, even millenniums, without any change inside.

It is the tiny moisture and tough skin that enable the kernels to pop when we impose intense heat on them. Over the high heat the starchy mass melts to become a viscous fluid while the moisture turns into steam creating a miniature pressure cooker. There is no safety valve on this cooker, and when the tough skin is no longer able to withhold the still building pressure, at a critical point it ruptures, spilling the starchy thick liquid that instantly solidifies in the air and swells into the familiar and unique popcorn shape.

Pop Your own

In 1946 the scientist Percy Spencer working for the Raytheon Corporation placed some popcorn under microwave radiation in his lab and to his surprise the popcorn popped in a few minutes. Subjecting other foods to microwave Spencer discovered that they cooked in seconds. From this simple experiments microwave cooking was born.

More than half a century later microwave is still in use for popping corn. In addition, there are all sorts of popcorn poppers to choose from, dozens and scores, and they are convenient to use. But a heavy covered skillet on the stove top works as well as any without taking extra kitchen space if you are willing to do the manual popping. Skillet popping, however, will not give you the largest yield. Sabri Gökmen, Department of Crop Science, University of Gaziosmanpasa, Turkey, determined that microwave gives the largest flakes but also the largest unpopped kernels because of microwave’s uneven heating.

If you are old school and want to use a skillet, here is how to do it.

Have the popcorn ready, measuring three to four tablespoons of kernels for a serving and your choice of vegetable oil. Don’t use olive oil that burns on high heat or butter that burns at an even lower temperature but you can use clarified butter for heavenly popcorn. Measure out one teaspoon oil per serving fine salt. Fine-ground popcorn salt is ideal because it sticks to popcorn better (easy to make: grind salt for a few seconds in a mortar with a pestle.)

Heat the skillet over high heat until it just begins to smoke. At this point its temperature is at least 400 degrees. Pour in the measured oil then swirl it in the pan to cover bottom and let it heat for a few seconds then dump in popcorn, cover the skillet. In a few minutes the kernels heat up to the critical temperature at which time the internal steam bursts the kernels open. Now the comforting popping sound lets you know that the kernels are working. Start shaking the pan without opening the lid and as soon as popping subsides, remove the pan from the heat, wait for a few more seconds then uncover and pour popcorn into a bowl.
If you like your popcorn buttered, add one to two teaspoons butter per serving into the hot skillet while off the heat, let butter melt then return the popcorn, stirring well to distribute the butter evenly. Shake salt over popcorn, stir and serve.

Popcorn kernels must have 13 to 14 percent moisture or they won’t pop. Keeping the kernels in a tightly sealed container ensures that the moisture remains sealed inside each kernel. Experts say that popcorn only keeps for about a year. Sometimes experts are wrong. Popcorn stored for a decade or more pops perfectly well. If you have stored them too long, however, listen to popcorn expert Kenneth Ziegler. Sprinkle a jarful of popcorn kernels with a tablespoon of water, shake well, tighten lid and let them sit for four to seven days on your counter, shaking the jar when you remember. Lost moisture is restored and the kernels should pop as programmed.

You don’t need to wait for your next trip to the movie theater—popcorn is a great snack any time and reasonably healthy, provided you don’t drown it in butter and salt.

TIME FOR TOMATO MARMALADE

2010-10-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

As the sun angle dips so low that you frequently need to turn the sun visor down even at mid- day, many cooks’ thoughts turn to canning fruits, jams and marmalades. I enjoy both the process and the flavor of home-canned products so much that I do it year round whether the sun angle is low or not. However, the fall season signals to preparation of one of my favorite foods, tomatoes.

I don’t bother canning sauces and whole tomatoes—I feel that I can utilize my canning time better with preparing jams and marmalades. Most of this is for home use but many jars are given away to my favorite people. And when we are dinner guests at friends, I don’t bother offering the customary bottle of wine but a jar of home-canned something. After all, anyone can buy wine (a bottle of which most likely will be gone and forgotten before the dinner is over) but most hosts and hostesses are likely to enjoy a freshly opened good jam over many breakfasts.

I buy my tomatoes at the farmers’ market where they are totally ripe and inexpensive this time of the year. There is no reason to buy the more costly heirloom tomatoes—they don’t produce a better marmalade.

Commercial jams and marmalades are not particularly good, even expensive imported ones, and mostly much oversweetened. I keep mine just barely sweet. I am able to do this, since I don’t use pectin to thicken—even the low-sugar pectin jams are too sweet for my taste.

Besides, when using pectin, the canning process is so quick that there is no time for the cooking to develop and bring out full flavor. Freezer jams are even worse, they are virtually instant and the flavor of raw fruits definitely lacks the improved cooked flavor.

My canning process uses the old-fashioned unhurried cooking, evaporating the moisture (after adding sugar and flavorings) until the thickness of the syrup is just right. Then I simply spoon this syrup into sterilized jars, seal and label.

Using a wide-bottomed pan the process can be fairly quick. In such pan the rate of evaporation is fast. A five-pound batch of tomatoes, for example, is cooked down in about 30 or 40 minutes.

I go a step further for an additional flavor. I cook the mixture down until the color turns slightly darker, signaling the beginning of the caramelization process, a new, very nice flavor in the jam or marmalade, even though I do sacrifice the beautiful red-rose color. At this point the mixture would be much too thick to preserve (the marmalade would be like thick axle grease). Now it is time to add a little more water to thin the mixture, cook it another few minutes and spoon it into the jars.

Do not forget the label! My daughter showed me a collection of jars received from friends and clients and nearly half of them had no labels. She had no idea where they came from and what they contained. So add a label with name, date, and your name.

Many recipes for tomato marmalade call for some oranges, lemons and spices. I tried these, too, but found that simply tomatoes without any other addition except sugar and a little salt is the best.

For 5 pounds of tomatoes I use 5½ cups sugar and half teaspoon salt. This yields about 5½ cups of marmalade. I blanch the tomatoes first for 90 seconds to loosen the thick skin, cool them slightly then slip off the skins. I cut them up into large pieces and quickly process these in the food processor to leave coarsely chopped tomatoes. These go into the canning pot with the sugar and salt. The process takes 10 or 15 minutes.

Though canning instructions ask you to use a boiling water canner to totally sterilize the jars, I skip this step. Tomato marmalade is high in acid and sugar and totally safe without this extra time consuming step. (To feel totally safe, you don’t need to follow my example.)

Tomato marmalade is excellent on toasts but some people use it over cream cheese, goat cheese or any good soft cheese as a first course or hors d'oeuvres.

BRUSCHETTA--FRESHLY BAKED

2010-10-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

This simple, traditional Italian snack and hors d'oeuvre goodies must be made in your own kitchen to be worth serving. They are not hard, their preparation takes about 10 minutes and baking time another 10.
I start off with a loaf or two of stale cocktail bread or thin baguettes and slice them as uniformly as possible into very thin slices, and place them on ungreased baking sheet. I brush both sides with olive oil and lightly sprinkle each with coarse kosher salt.

By now the preheated 400-degree oven is ready and I place the baking sheet into the center.
I watch closely; depending on the type of bread, bruschetta browns anywhere from eight to 15 minutes. I may need to turn them halfway through if browning on top and bottom is uneven.

I let bruschetta cool and place them in a plastic bag or any airtight container. Although cold olive oil is not susceptible to oxidation (i.e. rancidity), once heated, it is. I keep my bruschetta in the refrigerator if I don't use them within a few days.

Note that correct Italian pronunciation is bru-sketta though Americans often pronounce it bru-shetta.

COFEE BEANS -- GREEN TO DARK

2010-10-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Coffee roasting is like sausage making — to get the best result, we prefer to leave the task to the professionals having the knowhow and equipment.

Nevertheless, you can roast your own beans in your home kitchen and end up with very good coffee. I always store a small bag of green coffee beans on my shelf — the shelf life of green beans is very long, measure in many years if not decades. As long as the beans are unbroken and not roasted, they are protected from damaging oxidation. Once roasted, both chemistry and physics are altered, and the shelf life shrinks to months. The oil coffee beans contain seeps to the surface by the roasting process and immediately susceptible to oxidation, leading to rancidity. Dark-roasted beans are more susceptible than light roasts because the longer the roasting, the more oil escapes to the outside. This is obvious when you freeze roasted coffee beans. Beans with dark roast having oily surface congeal the beans together by the cold but not the less oily light roasts.

Having green coffee beans is an emergency measure when you forgot to check your coffee supply in the freezer and you find yourself scraping the bottom of the storage container. It is also a pleasant little task to get the freshest roast in town. With a slow roasting, the green beans turn to your ideal color in 10 or 15 minutes.

No special equipment is needed. I use a heavy fry pan with a lid over low to medium heat, shaking the pan often and letting the steam and smoke out from time to time. Roasting inside the kitchen is asking for trouble. Unless you have a very powerful exhaust system, the smell of coffee roasting, pleasant as it may seem, soaks into fabrics, carpet and curtains and becomes unpleasant, lingering for many days.

Use the outdoors to avoid the problem. A camp stove, an electric fry pan or other portable cooking unit works best if you have a back porch, deck, balcony or anything out in the open.

Slow roasting and frequent shaking produce the best flavor and uniform color — don’t rush it. After about 10 minutes start checking the color of the beans. When taking the pan off the heat, beans continue turning darker for a few more minutes. Remember that and remove the beans from heat just before the color is dark enough for you.

Very few roast their own and green coffee beans are not easy to find. But a small local coffee roaster may have some in the bin or willing to sell you a bagful from the stock in the back.

IS IT KIWIFRUIT OR KIWI?

2010-10-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Beauty is only skin deep. Kiwifruit begs to differ.

Inconspicuous on the outside with its fuzzy skin and drab color, kiwi’s beauty is revealed with the first slice. Its spring green soft interior and symmetrically arranged tiny black dots of seeds around a white oval-shaped center make kiwis a food photographer’s delight.

Only fully ripe kiwis taste good — neither flavor nor sugar fully develops until the fruit is soft to a gentle squeeze. Many fruits stop ripening once harvested; fortunately, kiwis are not among these.

To ripen kiwis, place them in a closed paper bag at room temperature to concentrate natural ethylene gas that ripens fruits. Enclosing a prolific ethylene producer like an apple or a banana speeds up the process. Check the kiwis daily and refrigerate when soft.

You can eat kiwi, skin and all (a lot of its nutrients are right under the skin), or if the fuzz bothers you, peel and slice the fruit or cut in halves lengthwise and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Kiwis are versatile in the kitchen: use them in any salad, sweet or tart, use the slices to make pretty plate or tray garnishes or serve them sliced as a fruit dessert. Kiwi has an organic ingredient that destroys the gelling power of gelatin. Before you use it in gelatin desserts or salads, blanch the fruit in boiling water for a few seconds.

I visited a small kiwi orchard in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California, spread over one acre. The kiwi vines (similar to grape vines) are trained to be five or six feet high, are hung on some 11 miles of a network of horizontal wires, forming a thick canopy through which sunlight doesn't penetrate. By fall the vines are heavy with fruit that begins to ripen in early November.

Kiwi is a climacteric fruit which means it continues ripening after harvested, like pears or bananas. They are picked while still very firm and stored in a refrigerated storage room and sold in a semi-ripe stage. It takes a week to 10 days to bring them to a soft-ripe stage at room temperature in an enclosed paper bag.

APPLE PIE--SIMPLE IS BEST

2010-09-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

FEW DESERT CREATIONS are as well received as a fresh-baked pie, still warm from the oven’s heat. Berries, nuts, fruits, cream pies—they are all delicious but apple is among my top favorites.

Apple pie is easy to make and with fair kitchen skill, you pop it into the hot oven within 30 or 40 minutes. Making the dough and peeling the apples are the most time consuming. The pie dough for an experienced baker should take about 10 minutes. You can choose your fat: butter, vegetable, shortening, lard or combination. I find half-half butter and lard to give the tastiest and flakiest pie crust. Some use olive oil but oil simply will not produced flaky crusts.

For apple pie, you may use a single or a double crust. People with weight problem prefer a single crust as a good pie dough has 3½ ounces of fat in the crust, twice that much in a double crust. If you want even less fat, roll out the dough extra thin instead of reducing fat, that way you end up with less dough per serving. A few dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg mixed with the dry ingredients give a nice flavor touch.

Of the readily available apples, Granny Smith is ideal for pies—it is firm, tart and inexpensive. Four large Granny Smiths weigh about a pound, just right for an apple pie. With a sharp peeler, a corer (small melon ballers are best) and equally sharp chef’s knife, the thinly sliced apples are ready in 10 or 12 minutes.

A simple apple pie is always the best to my taste. This includes flour or other starch to thicken the liquid, salt, sugar (Granny Smiths are tart; a full cup of sugar per pound is just about right), cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, a sprinkling of lemon juice, lemon zest and splash of melted butter on top of the filling.

If you are making a double crust pie, a small amount of slightly beaten egg white mixed with sugar and spread on the top crust gives an attractive brown crust. Remember to make pretty slits as the last task in the top crust to let steam escape.

Granny Smith apples are slow to cook. Starting in a hot 425⁰F oven for 15 minutes then continue baking at 375⁰F for 40 minutes cooks the apples and browns the crust just right. For softer apples, start testing sooner.

Apple pie is great warm or at room temperature, the flavor is less intense when cold. A chunk of cheddar cheese (at room temperature!) is a nice accompaniment and so is a scoop of vanilla ice cream—but neither is necessary.

ALMOST FATAL ADVENTURE IN UGANDA

2010-09-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

Who is today’s cook in the family is easier to decide when a man has two, three or four wives. The wives can take turn (unless one is exempt because of other evening duties). That’s what I thought before I worked in Uganda, but in real life things are not that simple.

Food and cooking

The solutions to the shortage of men in war-torn Uganda, where I worked for the World Bank in 1982, is simple—men have several wives, Muslims and Christians alike. It turns out that even if a man has four wives (and a wealthy man in the small town of Tororo I had as my base had as many as 16 wives), all four has to cook daily. Each wife usually has a separate household with a separate set of children and a little house, that the poor husband supports and visits in turn, sometimes staying a whole week, sometimes just overnight. Men have their favorites with whom they spend more or most of their time and the less favored ones wait in neglect. The best cooks receive the visits from the husband around mealtime.

Men never cook, not in Uganda—it is below a man’s role and dignity. Only women and servants undertake such lowly task. Man has enough trouble just to keep up with eating and drinking and remembering when to visit which wife.

Whatever the wives cook, the meal is simple, plain, bland and not very memorable—typical for much of sub-Saharan Africa. Much of Africa of 1982, including Uganda, suffered bland-cuisine syndrome, thanks to the influence of the original Dutch, English and German colonists.

The locale

The many wives and servants buy their daily supplies at small farmers’ stands or markets which are everywhere, even in the smallest village, or set up by the roadside by half a dozen farmers to peddle their meager crops. While working in Uganda in 1982, I often stopped at markets to see what they sell and to explore for new and unusual foods. But the selection was generally minimal. A few root vegetables, some wilted greens, maize, tiny, malformed tomatoes no more ripe than in a US supermarket display, small, shriveled peppers and chilies, dried fish and plenty of grains. Most of the produce would barely make it to the “reduced-for-quick-sale” shelf of an average American supermarket. Fruits were not plentiful—always bananas and plantains, and several exotic tropical fruits of the season, some which I couldn’t name.

They placed their produce on the ground on squares of cutup gunnysacks, pieces of plastic sheets or just newspapers. Many of the grains I didn’t know and couldn’t learn—the names were local and meaningless to me, even if the sellers spoke a little English.
However, I recognized the small hillock of roasted termites, even though they were wingless. The sellers painstakingly pluck the wings off for the ready-to-eat market, like pitting olives. I couldn’t resist, so I bought a small bagful and tasted it. The flavor was not unpleasant—crunchy with heavy woody-smoky overtones—something like smoked snack-food American food processors would engineer. I even brought some termites back with me (since they are smoked, they pass agricultural inspection) so I can share the unique taste experience with my family and friend (they all refused).
The meat stalls were typical of the African open market scene—clouds of flies and emaciated stray dogs signaling their presence. Large hunks of meat hanging from hooks, mainly half goats, sides of lean pig and beef and plucked chickens with head and feet still attached. They didn’t look very appetizing after our mouth-watering displays we are used to at our own butcher counters, but they were fresh. With proper preparation they form the base of a normal African dish.

Yet I craved for our well-aged beef, fresh, lean succulent pork, crisp vegetables, good, hearty crusty breads with aged cheese and spicy sausage, fresh-baked pies, cold milk. After a month and a half work in the Ugandan countryside exploring their phosphate deposits for the World Bank, I was ready to head back.

The time was post Idi Amin era and even though he was gone for several years, the new regime was not much better for the native scene. The country was desperately poor and under military oppression.

However, I became comfortable and safe working around the villages with curious, pleasant and very friendly people everywhere whom I began to know a little and enjoy. I felt their welcome and they regularly greeted me with bright, warm smiles. Kids would spontaneously join me on my regular morning or evening run. But my time was up and I was more than ready to leave.

Departure

The morning arrived when my driver took me to the Lake Victoria Hotel in Entebbe to catch the flight next day to Tel Aviv. That left me with a free afternoon. What better way to spend, than exploring the open market in the big city?

The city market was a great deal larger, than the sparse, quiet village markets. More variety of produce, lots of color and better quality was evident at once, less flies and dogs around the meat stalls and plenty of people milling around. I immediately got inspired to take some photos both to finish my roll before departure but also as future insurance against poor memory.

I lifted my camera to eye-level to take my first shot of the nearest produce stalls when something suddenly blocked my view-finder. As I took the camera away and refocused my eyes, I saw a very young uniformed Ugandan soldier, a kid, really, staggering towards me. He brought his chocolate-dark face, distorted with rage, within inches of my surprised face.

“How dare you take photos here? Do you have a permit?” he yelled in English, showering me with spit and a cloud of concentrated alcohol vapor.

He was drunk and I didn’t know how to deal with the situation—I have never learned how to deal with drunks.

People around looked up and watched the scene with fear in their eyes. I was getting scared myself. The soldier grabbed me and pulled me to a Land Rover idling just outside the market a few steps away, with two heavily armed people in uniform, one a military police and a driver. My new-found “friend” literally shoved me in the back seat, squeezed in next to me, then ordered the driver to take me to the headquarters. Now I was really scared.

I prayed that the driver be a little more sober but that didn’t appear to be the case the way he zigzagged at breakneck speeds around ox-carts, pedestrians, bicycles and animals on the heavily traveled main road. I didn’t think there is any way we’ll make it but people and vehicles scooted out of the way in a hurry as they spotted the military vehicle.

The headquarter was a short distance away. During the five-minute trip my mind brought up images of one-way Ugandan dungeons where foreigners labeled as spies rot away. I was sure I am doomed, never to see good food and sunlight again.

At the military headquarters the drunken Ugandan soldier grabbed me again and rushed me straight to the Commander, a Major, declaring that I had taken photos of road blocks and military installations.

The Major, a friendly-looking Ugandan in full uniform, dismissed my drunken soldier companion, introduced himself in excellent English, motioned me to take a seat and asked to explain what happened. I did, then I began to relax just a little, as I to found him surprisingly reasonable, sympathetic and understanding. He called an assistant in and ordered him to drive me back to the roadblock where the assistant queried the soldiers about my alleged photography. They assured him that they have not seen me at all.

More mad adventures

My drunk companion, however, was not yet finished with me. He asked where I was staying and drove back with me to Lake Victoria Hotel. He searched my white Mercedes with large World Bank lettering on its sides, then asked for my room key. He marched up to my room with me in tow then started a thorough search, emptying suitcases, travel bags, drawers. He gleefully pulled out my field clothes from my suitcase. For geologic field work, I use dark green army surplus clothing which has the finest insect-proof weave and toughest fabric, and many pockets, just right for field work in rough terrain.

The soldier declared that these were stolen Ugandan uniforms. I searched for a tag inside to prove their status as retired U.S. military equipment but in vain. They always cut the tags off of surplus clothing.

We marched back downstairs with my field cloths in hands through the now prudently deserted lobby, and raced back to headquarters. By now I was terrified. The soldier proudly displayed his latest find of the “stolen“uniforms to the Major who took a look at them and once again dismissed him.

Sure enough, the color of my field clothes resembled the Ugandan field uniform, but similarities ended right there. Even at a quick look it was clear that my army surplus clothing was a heavier, far better made, superior fabric. The Major even apologized for the actions of his overzealous (and intoxicated) staff.

We had a short but pleasant conversation. I learned that he went to school and was trained in the U.S. In fact, he said, he is having a maize-roasting party tonight and since maize (or corn as we know it) is a native of the Americas, why don’t I join the party?

At this point I longed for nothing more than to be by myself tonight, quietly asleep in my room instead of in a military dungeon, yet I didn’t feel it was wise to refuse the kind invitation. He gave the address and directions where the maize-roasting was to take place, and pushed a bell under his desk for his assistant.

The Major gave instructions to have someone drive me to my hotel. As soon as the military vehicle stopped in front, the lobby emptied in seconds—everyone seems to have evaporated, including the staff. Only my brave and faithful chauffeur stayed, still waiting for me with a terrified expression.

When the Land Rover dropped me off and pulled away, my chauffeur broke into a huge smile with tears in his eyes. I escaped unharmed—apparently a rare event. Guests and the staff slowly trickled back into lobby. Several people, including two policemen, came to me with smiles and with “Welcome back, sir.” I was touched. Apparently, a miracle happened. I escaped unharmed.

I still had an hour before the maize party to gather my strength and courage. There were about 20 or 25 military people, all men, at the maize-roast. A steel drum cut in half, lying on its side and filled with glowing charcoal was the grill. Beer and whiskey were the beverages of choice. The corn was already roasting on the glowing charcoal and its aroma was irresistible. As an American visitor and the only white person in the place, I was an honored guest. As soon as I finished my drink or ate my corn, someone jumped to refill or offer a fresh one. They asked many questions about America, our food, our lives, my work in Uganda, and about their phosphate deposits they hoped one day will make Uganda rich.

In the meantime my driver joined the rest of the drivers in the kitchen for a small party of their own.

I enjoyed the attention but I bailed out the first chance I had without appearing impolite. My mind refused to accept the military officers as friends, and even though the corn and Ugandan beer were very good, I felt uneasy. In fact, I did not fully relax until my airplane safely left the Entebbe airport the next morning.

TOMAOES--LET'S MAKE THEM SEASONAL

2010-08-04T14:54:00.000-07:00

Bite into a freshly picked, fully ripe, juicy tomato and you think you are in heaven.

To me, the tomato is a seasonal vegetable (to be exact, a fruit), and I leave it alone when it’s not in season. The imported and hot-house varieties, hard as billiard balls and with not much more flavor, should not be called tomatoes. Off-season I use canned tomatoes—they are harvested fully ripe and processed the same day, retaining flavor and nutrients.

Starting in mid-July, we should all have fresh tomatoes on our table daily.

To have truly succulent tomatoes, you need to buy them either at a farmers’ market or grow your own. Having short shelf life, fully ripe tomatoes are not carried in supermarkets. Don’t let them fool you with the label “vine-ripened.” Once a tomato reaches what’s called mature-green stage on the vine (almost totally green), it will ripen with ethylene gas, but forget about the true tomato flavor. Yet legally it may be called vine-ripened.

Should you grow a good hybrid or an heirloom? I am one of the annual Master Gardeners’ tomato contest judges in my community, and each year I taste over a hundred tomatoes submitted by local gardeners. Some of the hybrids are excellent as well as some of the heirlooms; neither group outshines the other.

Since the tomato is a fruit, it ripens just like a banana or pear does: in a closed paper bag at room temperature, never in direct sun. The paper bag concentrates natural ethylene gas to ripen the fruit. A full-flavored tomato should have a good balance of tart and sweet and a pleasing, not mushy, texture. If too sweet, the flavor is flat—a sprinkling of lemon juice or wine vinegar should help. If too tart, a smidgen of sugar will give it a perk.

Tomatoes have terrific affinity with garlic and basil. Serve slices of tomatoes with a sprinkling of finely minced garlic and chopped basil, a drizzle of olive oil and wine or balsamic vinegar, and sprinkles of salt and pepper. For cooking, use low-juice tomatoes like Roma; if you only have juicy tomatoes, squeeze some of the liquid out or evaporate the excess moisture with cooking.

Our climate is perfect for sun drying those you can’t eat fresh. Slice them thin and dry on a wire rack. Within a day or two they are crackly dry. I place these in the freezer overnight in case insects decided to lay their eggs in them, then store in an airtight container. They keep for years.

Why not OD on tomatoes while they last?

TOMATO EQUIVALENTS

One medium tomato is ½ cup and equals 1 tablespoon tomato paste.

To get tomato sauce from paste, dilute 1 part paste with 2 parts water.

Tomato purée is halfway between sauce and paste in concentration.

Two medium tomatoes weigh ½ pound, yield one cup chopped tomatoes.

A large tomato weighs seven to eight ounces, a medium tomato four to five ounces, a small tomato three ounces.

SALT IS SALT--OR IS IT?

2010-07-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

New York State Assemblyman Ortiz introduced a bill in March to ban all salt in New York restaurants. Chefs, restaurateurs and even the public were up in arms and for good reason: can you possibly enjoy food, any food, without salt? The answer is no; food without salt is bland and tasteless.

Salt is one of our prime flavor enhancers, and using it in moderation has never been found to be harmful for the body. But Ortiz did have a point: virtually all prepared foods are oversalted, snack foods grossly so. Too much salt may harm us (though a UC Davis nutritional scientist claims otherwise—the human body has a wonderful mechanism to purge excess salt).

It is a good idea, nevertheless, to salt your foods with a light hand—a little is good, but a lot is not better. The sodium in salt is necessary to regulate our electrolyte balance; if Ortiz had zero salt in his diet, he would be sick within months and would die soon after.

What kind of salt should you reach for on the grocery shelf? Forget about the more costly sea salt and other specialty salts. All salt is sea salt, all were derived from ocean water even if deeply buried in salt mines (an exception is salt from Great Salt Lake), and all salt is refined before packaging. Sea salt has virtually no benefit over plain, inexpensive granular salt.

Chefs do have what they call “finishing salts” that they sprinkle over some foods as a last touch. Coarse kosher salt is an example—I keep it on my shelf to shake over pretzels, focaccia, and other savory goodies. If I need salt for my popcorn, I grind granular salt in a mortar until fine—that’s popcorn salt. You also need chemical-free salt for pickling and preserving foods and special coarse salt for your ice cream machine.

CORN-ON-THE-COB

2010-07-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

A Colorado friend was a superb gardener, and when sweet corn was ready to harvest from his backyard garden, he and his wife invited about a dozen friends over. Corn was the attraction at the dinner table. Alas, it was his wife’s duty to cook the corn and her cooking skills were meager.

She cooked six or seven cobs at a time in the microwave. I don’t know how long she zapped them, but they were inedible—tough as pork rind and starchy as raw potatoes.

Sweet corn is an old variety that Indians cultivated in the Americas since ancient times. Sweet corn hybrids steadily improved, but what we had back in the 60s and 70s was not the same as today’s. It was sweet but sugar began converting to starch the moment the cobs were picked from the stalk. To enjoy good corn, you cooked them within a couple of days.

Today’s hybrids are more forgiving on storage. Corn remains just as sweet for four, five, even six days and is also lower in starch. Current varieties contain over three percent sugar.

My favorite (and easiest) way to prepare corn-on-the-cob is to simmer in salted water. For tender, fairly young corn, four minutes is just right; for older corn, give it a few minutes more—overcooking toughens the grains. (And don’t even think of microwaving!)

Grilling on hot coals also yields excellent corn. Pull back the husk but don’t remove it. Take off the silk and refold the husk around the corn, tying the ends with a strip of husk or string. Soak in water for an hour before grilling to prevent incinerating the husk. Turn ears frequently over medium-hot coals for 10 minutes. Butter is optional but a sprinkling of salt is a must.

You may also cut the kernels off the cob with a sharp knife and sauté them in a little oil or butter until beginning to show brownish spots. Season to taste. Yum!

HOME-MADE ICE CREAM

2010-07-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

Home-made ice creams range from barely edible to very good. Technological aids to produce truly creamy ice creams with just the right amount of whipped-in air and very rapid freezing are impossible to duplicate at home but with a good technique, experience, a well-tested recipe and the best ingredients, a home-grown ice cream is sumptuous with zero added chemicals. And it adds an old-fashioned, homey air no commercial ice creams can provide.

Prof. Goff (University of Guelph, Ont, Canada) provides helpful hints to end up with good ice cream at home:

Always use pasteurized ingredients. Raw or partially cooked eggs are no longer safe as they were in our grandmothers’ days. Even though uncommon, the dreaded Salmonella infect an occasional egg yolk. Pasteurize your mix by heating it in a double boiler to 155⁰F (68⁰C), then chill it rapidly.

Age your ice cream mix in the refrigerator overnight, or at least for four hours for better whipping qualities that grants good body and texture.

Scald and clean every part of the ice cream maker, then cool it.

Fill ice cream maker can no more than two-thirds full.

Freeze finished ice cream for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

And if home-made is not your thing, indulge a little and buy a good super-premium brand, allowing small serving portions. Buying the cheapest store brands you are taking home mainly sugar and air

THE BEST HUNGARIAN GULYÁS

2010-04-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

The star of Hungarian cuisine, Hungarian gulyás recipes have been passed down the generations over many centuries. Originally this dish was made with tough old mutton but later beef was substituted for mutton.
Up the 1970s, gulyás has been a very fatty dish, using less-than-the-best cuts laden with fat. But dietary habits have changed with increasingly more sedentary life style and today's gulyás is no fatter than a good beef stew.
The recipe below is perfect to my taste (and guests agreed) with great flavor and minimum fat content. Ingredients are readily available (make sure you use Hungarian paprika, if possible, or
Spanish as second best) and within an hour this rich soup should be simmering on your kitchen stove. This has a long list of ingredients but it's worth the effort.
Make the dish early in the day -- as with most soups and stew-like dishes, the flavor improves on standing.

HUNGARIAN GULYÁS

(this recipe is also in my book Tried and True Recipes from a Caterer's Kitchen)

4 Tbsp vegetable oil

8 oz (225 g or 1 large) onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1½ Tbsp Hungarian paprika

1 large green pepper (5 oz or 140 g), chopped

1 large carrot (3 oz or 85 g), peeled, thinly sliced

1 small parsnips (2 oz or 55 g), peeled, diced

1 rib celery, thinly sliced

2½ tsp salt

1¼ lb (570 g) beef, chuck or top round, cut in bite-sized cubes

4 oz (115 g or ½ c or 1 medium) tomato, fresh or canned, chopped, or 1½ Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp caraway seeds, coarsely crushed

1 tsp dry marjoram

¼ c parsley, chopped

5 c beef stock from bouillon cubes or concentrate

1½ lb (700 g) potatoes, peeled and finely cubed

¼ c sour cream (garnish)

soup puffs (recipe below)

Sauté onion in half the oil on medium heat in a large, heavy skillet until glossy, add garlic and paprika and continue to brown for a few more seconds. Add green pepper, carrots, parsnips, celery and salt, stir and brown over medium heat, stirring often until vegetables are beginning to color, six to eight minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Wipe beef cubes to remove excess moisture. Turn the burner to high, add remaining oil to the skillet and brown meat, tossing the cubes into the pan a handful at a time, until all are browned.
Combine meat and vegetables in a soup pot, stir in a quarter cup warm water, bring to slow boil, cover and gently simmer for one-and-a-half hours, adding more water as needed.
Add tomatoes, spices, seasonings and beef stock, bring to boil, turn heat down to a gentle simmer and continue cooking for 30 minutes.
Stir in potatoes and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Soup Puffs

2 egg yolks

5 Tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

Beat egg yolks in a small bowl with fork, add flour and salt, stir with a spoon to make a dough. Add water, a teaspoon at a time, to form medium-thick dough. Let dough rest for five minutes.
Dust a small cutting board with flour and mound the dough near one edge. Hold the cutting board over the simmering soup, pinch off raisin-sized pieces of dough with a small paring knife or a spoon, and drop them into the liquid. Stick the knife or spoon in the hot soup momentarily to keep dough from sticking to it. When all the dough is in the soup, give the puffs another three minutes to cook. Taste one to make sure it is no longer raw.

Serves six to seven people. You may garnish each bowl of gulyás with a small dollop of sour cream then dust with paprika. Serve with hearty bread.

AIOLI SAUCE

2010-03-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

Common on menus in Spain and southern France where people adore garlic (the more the better), in our kitchens aioli is less often on the table. This sauce is really a garlic mayonnaise. If you know how to make your own mayonnaise, you make this is five minutes flat.
A blender is the best tool but a food processor also works well (but not so well if the recipe is halved). Hand-whipping is fine too but takes more effort and a little more time.

8-10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 egg yolks at room temperature, blended in a small bowl
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 c mixture of vegetable and olive oil (or all olive oil)

If using a food processor, add peeled cloves of garlic to the bowl and process until fine. If using a blender, chop garlic first.
While the motor is running, add egg yolks , salt, mustard and lemon juice and process or blend for a few seconds.
Starting with DROPS of oil, add it while the motor is running, then continue adding oil very, very slowly.
When sauce noticeably thickens, add oil in a slow,steady stream and when thick, continue pouring oil in in a steady stream.
Makes 1 1/2 cups aioli sauce. Use it as dip, as spread, as salad dressing, over pasta, potatoes, vegetables or just about on any food item except you chocolate cake.