Wishes for the New Year

Here’s to a New Year marked by new and colorful experiences, dished up with nothing that you can’t handle, fruitful, spicy, full of flavor and measured by good times!

All the best for 2010 from my kitchen to yours.

Read the Fine Print: A Cautionary Tale

I’m probably driving Sylvia mad. And to be honest? She’s barely following this blog. I think it’s a mother/daughter thing. In fact, there’s no doubt. Moms are embarrassing creatures and who wants to listen to them anyway?

Well, if you are reading this, it’s probably safe to say that you aren’t Sylvia and I can continue with this morning’s cautionary tale.

Sylvia got a microwave egg poacher for Christmas (you’re right, it was from me. No wonder my reputation is in the compost bin.). This morning, while I was out running errands, the microwave thing was taken for a ‘test drive’.

All I can say is, even (especially) with the simplest of gadgets, it pays to read the instructions. As if getting an egg poacher wasn’t bad enough, neglecting to read the fine print (use medium power and follow suggested times, pierce egg white and yoke, use a teaspoon of water as in ‘teaspoon measure’ and not as in ‘a spoon that’s used for tea’) resulted in microwave mayhem (i.e. an explosion). Rubbery eggs landed in the trash.

In the spirit of full disclosure you need to know this: I retraced Sylvia’s steps and due to my own impatience had overcooked eggs to share with Pip. Not as explosive an experience as Sylvia had earlier (the eggs were edible), but next time I think I will read the fine print at least twice.

If You Can’t Take the Heat

Remember Gerald? I wrote about him in an earlier entry. Gerald is my friend who, after being on the planet even longer than myself, is just starting to get acquainted with his kitchen. Really? He’s been an inspiration. For the first time in his life, Gerald is cooking. One e-mail from him had me laughing when he wrote, “I just walked in from a foreign place. The supermarket.” Unfortunately, on a more recent occasion, Gerald wrote that he forgot to use his mitts.

Kitchen burns are no fun and today’s picture is an illustration of some of the things you can use to prevent a nasty burn. With the introduction of silicon into the kitchen, there always seems to be something new to help with the hot stuff. Don’t be a Gerald and regard kitchen shops as foreign places. Here are a few items found in my travels that I thought you might find interesting.

The solid red mitt is the traditional felt and fabric kind. When this gets dirty, you can pop it in the wash. The black and red mitt has a silicon grip. Both allow coverage for your wrists, which is particularly useful for oven stuff. The square red ‘pot holder’ also has a pocket so the back of your hand is protected. The blue holder is very flexible but does not have the advantage of a pocket. And the last thing is the red handle cover. This is something you might even want a few of (they come in different sizes), one for each of your favorite pans.

Finally, should you experience a minor mishap (aka burn), run it under cool water and put some anti-biotic ointment on your kitchen 'badge of honor’. A band-aid will keep a minor mishap clean and protected.

Hi Honey

I purchased this honey bear at a local farmer’s market. Bears, as you probably know, have been associated with honey for a long time (there’s Winnie the Pooh for starters). Apparently, the word for ‘bear’ in Russian, Hungarian and Croatian is derived from a noun that means ‘honey’ and a verb that means ‘to eat’. Which explains why we get honey in little plastic squeeze bears (which is handy because honey is so sticky).

There are some people that think eating local honey is a way of introducing small and manageable amounts of local allergens into one’s system. By introducing these very small amounts of pollens into your body, it’s thought that this can help to develop immunities. This does not mean that you are out of luck regarding 'local honey' if you live in a city. In New York there is at least one organization that promotes bees. The ‘New York City Beekeepers Association’ is dedicated to urban bees and if you check out their website, they even offer to make arrangements should you care to ‘host a beehive’!

But, even if the allergen thing is up for dispute, and even if you are not hosting a hive in your back yard or on your rooftop, some honey from your cupboard can always sweeten a nice cup of tea or help you to soothe a sore throat (just mix a little honey with some lemon juice).

Persian Cucumbers or Snack Like an Emperor

This is the season for entertaining, and that means something interesting to snack on before the real meal or just simply snacking, period.

These little Persian Cucumbers (also known as ‘mini seedless’) are one of my favorite appetizers. They are monstrously easy to prepare and there are never any left over. Unlike the large cucumbers that you are probably familiar with, these little guys are not coated with wax for transport, and are possessed of delicate edible skins and a mild flavor without any bitter seeds.

Simply wash them in cool water and drain or pat dry, slice in halves or quarters length wise and, if you are going deluxe, sprinkle with a little salt. I have a pot of Fleur de sel (literally translated as ‘flower of salt’) that is used for just this occasion. It’s a special salt from west-central France (not used for cooking, but as a condiment) that tastes like the ocean and is colored by trace minerals. That said, you don’t need fancy French salt, just a little sprinkle of the kosher stuff and you have a snack fit for a Roman Emperor (Tiberius had cucumbers on his table in winter and summer).

Clementines and Stockings

Cathy and I splurged on a box of clementines this Christmas. They were a little expensive this year (no doubt because they needed a passport to get here), and they never last very long, but this being the season of traditions, an orange or clementine has a role to play. Not all that long ago, experiencing a citrus fruit in the dead of winter was the height of luxury. Granted, this is even a little before my time, but Santa always made sure to put an orange or something related in our stockings (just as Santa’s parents did). As a kid, I always thought this a little strange and a waste of good stocking real estate. Why put a piece of fruit where there could be a toy or some chocolates?

No such thoughts yesterday. These marvels of the citrus family can be peeled with just your fingers, are virtually seedless and very sweet. The perfect snack for a lazy day. A day when phone calls are personal, the shopping is either done or abandoned and there’s no need to do anything except enjoy.

Season’s Greetings

I hope that your holiday season and the New Year are full of treats. Some that you will make yourself (maybe in your kitchen?), some that you will give to others (maybe also from your kitchen!) and some that you will simply happen upon!

(Meet Pip, the one foodie in the household that you have yet to be introduced to. She’s always a treat!)

'Salt of the Earth'

There’s a reason for this saying. All salt is created naturally from oceans. It’s basic not only to our kitchens; it's basic to our very existence. In fact, salt is a chemical necessary for our bodies. Nothing in your kitchen is more fundamental (except perhaps water).

Salt has been used since the beginnings of civilization to preserve foods and enhance flavor. A quick visit to Wikipedia for a bit of history lists a saltworks in China dating back to 6000 BC as well as funeral offerings of it in ancient Egyptian tombs. Pretty interesting stuff!

Although there are many types of salt (and I will get to them later), most cooks prefer Kosher salt as their basic cooking salt. Granulated and Iodized salts have additives that contribute metallic or other unappealing aftertastes. Kosher salt is relatively pure and because of its large grains or flakes (you can purchase it either way), is very easy to use. The larger the flake or crystal, the quicker it will dissolve during cooking. Kosher salt comes in large boxes and is very affordable, which is also a good thing.

Salt can corrode metal, so store your salt in glass or ceramic or wood.

Dijon Mustard and a Well Dressed Salad

While we are on the subject of salad dressing, I thought you might like to know about Dijon Mustard and making a simple vinaigrette.

Dijon is French mustard that has a nice sharp taste and is a simple step away from the oil and vinegar dressing that I wrote about yesterday. There are so many ways to make a salad dressing that once you get the hang of it, you won’t even think of buying bottled dressing. What you can make at home will be healthier, less expensive and will also start to reflect your cooking style.


If you would like some firm quantities, let’s start with this:

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of good quality wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Put all the ingredients in a jar with a very tight lid and shake the jar like crazy.
Done! Now add a little salt and pepper to taste and shake again.

Your salad is about to be very well dressed!

Toss Like a Fool

Here is the lovely gift from Ben. When I look at this, I’ll remember Ben’s surprise visit with his pal Allie, Impromptu Pizza and some crazy rounds of UNO.

Apart from being beautiful and fun, this bottle is also useful. The outside bottle stores olive oil while the grape bottle suspended inside holds vinegar. Because Ben and Sylvia like Balsamic vinegar, that’s what’s in there now. So, next time you need some salad dressing, get yourself set up with some nice vinegar and the best olive oil that you can lay your hands on. That, and a little saying will be all you need:

Use oil like a king,
Vinegar like a pauper,
And toss like a fool.

No recipe required. When you are faced with a bowl of greens, put enough olive oil to coat (just enough… don’t make your salad soggy), a much much smaller amount of vinegar (just enough to make an appearance), a pinch of salt, a grind of pepper and toss until everything is distributed evenly (you won’t feel foolish, I promise).

Impromptu Pizza

Ben (Sylvia’s brother) stopped by this afternoon to wish me a Happy Birthday (I’m really stretching this one out!) and presented me with a lovely oil and vinegar thing. I’ll get to that in a future blog. What I think you’d be more interested in is a recipe for Impromptu Pizza. Why ‘impromptu’? Because unlike last night’s pizza that was made with homemade dough and planned very much in advance, this was as spur-of-the-moment as Ben’s visit.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Find your oven mitts and a baking sheet.

Ingredients you will need:

flat Bread
olive oil
salt and pepper
freshly chopped garlic
tomato sauce
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese


Put a round of flat bread on your baking sheet and place it in the oven for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, using your mitts, remove the baking sheet with the bread from the oven, making sure to put it on a heat proof surface.

Brush a teaspoon of olive oil on the surface of the bread. Then put a large spoonful of tomato sauce followed by a pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper and a sprinkle of fresh garlic ‘to taste’ (meaning ‘how you like it’). Next come a few slices of mozzarella and a grating of Parmesan.

Place your pizza, still on the sheet, back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

That’s it! I used some fresh basil leaves left over from last night, making it look as though I had this planned!

“Never Apologize”

Nothing wrong a day that starts out with new cookbooks! These were waiting for me this morning, a present from my sister and I am delighted!

There is not a ‘foodie’ on the planet that is not in love with Julia Child. If you ever have the opportunity to watch episodes of her cooking show (she is one of the first to cook on TV), you should. She is light hearted and generous and such fun!

Because it’s my big day (and I’m doing my favorite thing, which is cooking for friends), this is going to be a short entry. What I would like to leave you with (consider it a virtual party bag) is something that Julia insisted on.

“Never apologize for a meal.”

Not sure if that’s a direct quote, but it’s something I have learned to practice. Friends are always happy to be fed. Don’t point out what you think may be your mistakes! Focus on the positive. Cooking, like so many endeavors, provides many metaphor moments. This is a big one. Bon appetit!

GNO and Ann’s ‘Martha’ Moment

Tomorrow’s my birthday, and by way of celebration my pals and I had a birthday edition of GNO (Girls Nite Out). These occasions are always life affirming. We usually start by going to an art museum or some galleries and finish by finding an affordable restaurant where we can catch up each with other’s news and have a good laugh.

Because we are in the middle of holidays, last night there was an exchange of gifts. Ann brought each of us two canning jars of herbs from her garden, and was laughing at herself for having a ‘Martha’ (as in Martha Stewart) moment with the ribbons. These herbs smell incredible. As fresh as something dried can be!

Dried herbs can go stale. If you have had yours for more than a year, toss them and get some ‘fresh’. Herbs are best stored in tight jars or containers and away from light. These gifts will go in the cupboard, keeping the rest of the spices and herbs company (after I label them with the date). Not that I anticipate them lasting long. The Bay leaves will be used in soups and when cooking beans. The rosemary will be used for roast vegetables or chicken. I suspect they will find their way into many other winter dishes as well.

Thank you Ann, Martha has nothing on you!

Learn Something New Everyday

Did you know that the average bite of food we eat travels 2000 miles?

This is the sort of stuff you learn while listening to the radio and doing Christmas cards. I quickly jotted down this interesting fact.

I thought that you might find this fact interesting as well. How far is Peru? That’s where the bananas I purchased yesterday came from. What I do remember Bill McKibben saying, is that it’s only in recent times that people are accustomed to eating food from such a distance. The current popularity of Farmer’s Markets explains our desire to eat food that doesn’t have to have a passport to get here and that is seasonal. It’s also nice to know who produced it. Eating locally means what we eat is fresher, costs less to transport and impacts less on the environment. Interesting. Now you’ve had your ‘learn something new everyday’ moment.

'Set the Table' Please

This is a picture of an informal Place Setting. When you need to ‘set the table’ this is standard. If you were getting very fancy and had salad forks or dessertspoons, etc, it would be a little more complicated.

But, as our goal is getting the ‘basics’, this will serve. Having a table set with a special glass or a napkin shows that you are paying attention to the details. Your guests will know that you have thought of them and will feel welcomed. Haven’t had time to prepare the table? Put your guests to work! They’ll feel useful and that’s welcoming too.

It’s been a busy day for me, so I hope this will suffice. In fact, I have my son and some friends coming over for dinner and need to ‘set the table’ myself!

Pasta for Beginners: Episode Three

As you know, I was going to call this Episode 'Unbirthday Pasta' (which I changed,thinking that this new title is more fun). I’m sure that Marin's birthday is long gone and that Sylvia made her friend happy with this simple dinner. That said, there’s no need to abandon our endeavor to master this pasta staple that is good for any day. Are you ready? Read through the instructions first and imagine how all this is going to work in your kitchen. The previous episodes were about ingredients and tools. This episode deals with hot water and timing. It's important that you have your work space ready and are thinking about what's going to happen and when. Don't feel silly about doing this. All cooks prepare ahead. In fact, the more professional the cook, the more preparation...really!

PS To really make this easy, try making one serving first. You can use a smaller pot and with about two handfuls of Pasta you will have a generous portion for one. The big pot thing is for when you are cooking the whole box and serving about four.

New Kitchen Primer Presents
It's Not Marin's Birthday Pasta or Episode Three: Method

Today's photo is pasta as Marin likes it. Very simple. That's why we are starting with this dish. Pasta is tremendously versatile and we have lots of variety in the future. But let's get cooking pasta itself down to an art before getting too ambitious. It's always about the basics!


1. Put cold water in your largest pot and place on stove (leave some room in the pot, the pasta is going to expand about twice in volume).

2. Over high heat, bring water to a boil (large bubbles). Placing the lid on will help. When you have achieved a boil, remove the lid (we're finished with it for now) and add a generous teaspoon of kosher salt.

3. Add pasta to boiling water and give it a stir. You want to keep the water active, but you may want to turn the heat down just a bit. Be nice to your pot and try not to let it boil over.
After about 10 minutes (check the package for timing suggestions), remove one piece of pasta from the pot (use a slotted spoon or strainer) and cut it in half.

NOW… here’s the tricky part. Don’t over cook your pasta. It should be ‘al dente’, which means having a ‘little bite’. Mushy pasta won’t harm anyone, but it’s not as fun as al dente.

If, after cutting or breaking a piece of pasta, you see a white core, it’s not done. Keep cooking. That said, just the teeniest, tinniest amount is OK, because it’s going to take a while to get the pasta out of the pot and it will continue to cook, though just a little. This takes practice and once you have some experience, ‘al dente’ will be your specialty.

4. Pasta done? Turn off the burner.

If you are using a colander, place it in the sink and using your mitts, carefully empty the pot of water and pasta into the colander, then transfer to a bowl (if you are not sure about this, practice ahead of time with a cold pot of water to see if you can manage it. This is a dress rehearsal, so use your mitts).

If you are using the ‘scoop’ method, place a bowl near to your pot and using a slotted spoon or similar tool, ladle the pasta into the bowl.

Either way, do not rinse off the pasta. The starch that was released during cooking will help the sauce to cling to the pasta.

Once your pasta is drained, toss it in the bowl with some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a little salt and some freshly ground pepper (or let your guests do the pepper thing themselves). Success! You’ve just made Marin’s Birthday Pasta.

Pasta for Beginners: Episode Two

What I haven’t told you is that all the Pasta Episodes were originally one entry entitled ‘Marin’s Birthday Pasta’. At the end of Episode Three, you will be able to make Marin, or if you don’t know a Marin, any one of your family or friends, a simple pasta dish. I won’t call it a meal because I would like you to also eat a salad or some vegetables to balance things out, but don’t let me get ahead of myself. Let’s proceed! You are well on the way!

New Kitchen Primer Presents
Episode Two: Ingredients

Today’s photo has the ingredients needed to make pasta with cheese.

Water: Get it cold out of the tap. If you want to use filtered, that’s great too. Just make sure you start out with it cold, it’s fresher that way.

Pasta: Pasta (and it’s many forms) is universal. Pasta can be made from scratch, purchased fresh or dried. To simplify matters, let’s start with dried and think Italian. Starting with shapes will also make your life easier. These are called Farfalle or ‘bow ties’. As you become more experienced, you will start to pair the shape of the pasta with the sort of sauce it’s going to keep company with. Whatever the shape, purchase the best pasta that you can afford, which hopefully means pasta from Italy made with Durum flour. The better the quality, the less likely you will be to over cook it.

Salt: I keep this little pot of kosher salt next to the stove. Kosher salt is very inexpensive and comes in a large box. It is softer and not as sharp tasting as the iodized salt that comes in round cardboard containers.

Pepper: Nothing can match the bright taste of freshly ground pepper. If you don’t have a grinder, supermarkets sell peppercorns in jars that have one built in.

Cheese Grater (not an ingredient, but we had enough going on yesterday): Just as with pepper, freshly grated is best. Graters come in many shapes and forms. This is a simple hand grater that sometimes makes it to the table so that everyone can grate their own cheese.

Cheese: If you have not read the entry “Parmigiano- Reggiano and the Moon”, now’s the time. There is no substitute for this marvel. If you can’t get Parmigiano –Reggiano, buy the best that you can find. A little goes a long way. Remember to tightly wrap your cheese in fresh plastic wrap when finished.


I think that that’s for this episode. Next installment? Episode Three: Unbirthday Pasta

Pasta for Beginners: Episode One

I would like to introduce you to someone. When I write this blog, I think not only of my daughter Sylvia, and her friends, but also of my friend, Gerald. Gerald is very smart about many things. He's smart about training people to communicate, he’s smart at learning to dance and most of all he’s smart about being a good friend. What Gerald is not smart about is his kitchen (although he is learning and that makes me very happy). I imagine that there are a lot of people in the world just like Gerald (and Sylvia too for that matter). So, when Gerald did me the favor of reading the bolg I had intended for today and had some questions about equipment, I decided to back up and do this in stages.

New Kitchen Primer Presents
Pasta for Beginners
Episode One: Equipment

The photo for today shows more than you need, but has all the basics.

A large pot: This one has the addition of a built-in liner with holes so that when your pasta is done, you can simply lift out the liner to drain.

A pot lid: This is not essential, but will help to get your water boiling.

A colander: If you don't have the built in liner, this is what you use to drain the cooked pasta. If you don’t have a colander, ask for one for Christmas or Hanukah or your birthday. This is a very useful thing to have in the kitchen

A large bowl: This can be used to hold the pasta after you have either drained it or scooped it out of the pot.

Oven mitts: Another kitchen essential, you will need these if you are going to take the pot of cooked pasta to the sink and your colander.

Implements: This picture shows a ‘spider’ and also a ‘pasta fork’. If you are not comfortable picking up a hot pot of water, these tools will help you scoop out the pasta from the water to the bowl. Any spoon with holes or a strainer of some sort will do the job.

Timer: Not essential, but very useful. You may have a timer built into your stove or use the one on your microwave. If you do use the microwave timer, make sure you have a bowl or cup of water in the microwave. To keep your microwave happy, never turn it on when empty.

I think that that’s enough information for one day. Stay tuned for the next and thrilling installment, Episode Two: Ingredients

What I Ate On My Winter Vacation

Almonds! I do love almonds and often find myself grabbing a handful during the day to stave off hunger and the desire to eat something less healthy. The benefits of almonds are no secret. They have practically no carbohydrates, are full of fiber and a rich source of vitamin E. They are also rich in monounsaturated fat, which is considered one of the good fats that help to lower cholesterol levels.

In California, at my dad’s house, they are a kitchen staple. Suzanne, my father’s helper, makes sure that roasted almonds are always available. Apart from whole nuts, Suzanne also has jars of ground roasted almonds on hand as a condiment and as a substitute for less healthful seasonings. Our mornings there always start with steamed vegetables, rice, ground almonds and Tamari sauce. Not my usual granola, but that’s what’s great about being away from home, trying something new!

Almonds are great raw, but even more delicious roasted. Here’s how:

1. Set your oven to 350 degrees and find your oven mitts.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, spread shelled raw almonds in a single layer.
3. Place almonds on rack in oven. Stir once or twice during cooking.
4. When the almonds are golden brown (about 10-15 minutes), remove from the oven. (Don’t forget your mitts and remember to put the hot baking sheet on a trivet, the top of the stove or any heatproof surface.)

After they cool, you can eat them as is or grind them in a processor or blender and enjoy your almond ‘sprinkles’ on everything from vegetables to ice cream.

Label Your Food!!

A friend admonished me once for using too many exclamation marks. He may be right, but in this instance, I hope they are the attention grabbers that they are intended to be.

On a recent weekend, Sylvia’s Aunt Cathy and I made a quick trip to her apartment. Whoa! I have seen it in worse condition (which is not saying much), but I had never experienced it smelling so bad. Sylvia had made a desperate plea for me to check out the refrigerator. By the time we arrived, Marin had tossed the culprit. It was an out-of-date container of milk. That was part of the problem, but there were some leaking milk containers as well, which meant pulling things out of the fridge and doing some damage control.

The sink is not the only place where Sylvia lives that science experiments take place. Honestly? It was a little scary. I recognized leftovers that had long passed their usefulness and were working their way to historical and possibly dangerous. This is not an appropriate venue for souvenir collecting. Some of the containers had ware-housed food for so long, that it seemed best to throw out not only the food, but the container as well. Better safe than sick.

This is what I am going to tell Sylvia:

1. Just keep what you know you are going to eat later. Label it.
2. Label every container, box, storage bag with the date stored and or opened.
3. Freeze food that is perishable or that you want to save for later. Label it.
4. Re-store open packages in a bag or container that is airtight and label it.

I hope that’s emphatic enough! A permanent marker and some tape will be your ticket to food that isn’t scary and leftovers that can be enjoyed safely. Look on the containers of foods that you purchase. There are usually storage instructions somewhere. Most foods can be stored safely for a couple of days or up to a week. Things like cranberry sauce last for much longer (it’s basically fruit and sugar). Watch out for foods with a lot of dairy. Soups without dairy and starches (pasta, rice) freeze brilliantly, as does tomato sauce. Label it!!