Category: cooking

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it’s picnic time

when you get folks together, you have to have room!

In California , the weather is starting to normalize and that means eating outside! This is the time when many people — who haven’t done much cooking all year begin to dust off their recipe card files and cookbooks and get ready to make some family favorites. Baking season is known to start in October, but the barbecues and the smokers are already firing up and this is an entirely different kind of cooking!

For us this means making our own corned beef and pastrami, smoking a salmon or two and cooking various cuts of beef over hickory and mesquite. It is a good time.

Preparation means serving either buffet or family style. Personally, I like to have a separate table just for the food, iced down troughs for the beverages and wine on the table. It’s the old keep it simple system. Personally, home baked rolls ( baguettes) and pies help add some diversion too the meal. And what isn’t a barbecue without garlic bread and your favorite recipe for baked beans ( with a secret ingredient or two from the liquor cabinet)!

Here is a few of what I like to prepare!

So, with summer just around the corner… plan a picnic!

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what she really wants on mothers day

what she really wants on mothers day

After 38 years of marriage and much soul searching, I am starting to get better at gifting the women in my life what they want for special occasions. The secret? I ask them! Obviously, it is extremely bad form to ask any woman what they want on the day of the event; however, I manage to sneak questions into the conversation well in advance.

Most of our events center around food, since we are foodies this should not surprise anyone. Laura loves my stuffed Bell Peppers — as did her mother — so this isn’t too tough a decision. However, dessert is always a challenge. Laura loved the tin roof sundae served at a restaurant called the ‘Hamburger Hamlet.‘ Dessert won’t be a tough one to recreate with homemade french vanilla ice cream, real caramel, nuts and hot fudge smothered in whipped cream! I guess I’ll have one as well!

Laura also wanted an ergonomically designed chair…  which was a bit more challenging, but this one has memory foam for the padding and looked a great deal more reputable than the others I found. Oh yes, there was the iPad.

Happy Mother’s Day, Laura and to everyone!

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Honey Pie from the Greek island of Sifnos

Sifnos honey pie
an Easter treat: Honey Pie from the island of Sifnos... but delicious anytime!

I had heard and then read a lot about the famous ‘Honey Pie” from the Greek island of Sifnos. Some folks will tell you that it tastes like cheesecake, and possibly — as a cheese — maybe that is the closest it comes. If you make this pie thinking you are making a ‘cheesecake’ you are bound to be disappointed; however, it is a very special dessert none-the-less!

Back to the Greek Honey Pie called Melopitta, the traditional Easter treat of the island of Sifnos! Searching for authentic ingredients for “Melopitta” is challenging. Most of the knock-off recipes substitute the Greek cheese  Myzithra (μυζήθρα, pronounced mee-ZEETH-rah) with Ricotta, Mascarpone or even Cottage cheese… but it is far closer to cream cheese in practical use. There are also many ‘cheesecake’ variations utilizing Myzithra with brandy, fruit and nuts.

making honey pie
Grating the cheese first, makes mixing easier!

The basic recipe is fairly standard: the filling is of grated Myzithra cheese, eggs, sugar and honey placed in a simple crust. I have seen this dessert baked in a variety of pans, but one of the most appealing presentations is baked in a shallow quiche pan with a removable bottom. Most of the recipes add only 2 or maybe four eggs per pie, but if you do this the pie will have a lot of body ( think ‘hockey puck’). I eventually added many more eggs (8) to fluff it up and it is quite enjoyable.

Myzithra is made from the milk and whey of sheep and/or goats. Recognizing the inherent strong flavors in this cheese, then I like to add some fruit or nuts (some like to bake on sliced almonds, but I most enjoy caramelized pecans).

bon appetite!

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unraveling the mysteries of sou barag

the Armenian mysteries of sou barag“Sou Barag” is an Armenian dish by many names in many places: Sou Boereg, Sou Boreg, Sou Boeregi, Sou Burek and Sou Barag to name but a few. However, the many variations in the preparation of this dish is due in part to the travels of the Armenian diaspora and in part to the availability of ingredients.

Armenian is considered — I am told — to not be a highly spiced cuisine; something , I am sure, my Swedish father-in-law would have approved. However, this is not to say it isn’t wonderful or flavorful. The real challenge is to find a guide to how to make Armenian food without all of the substitutions and shortcuts found in so many recipes today. It is hard to talk to someone  knowledgeable who doesn’t starts the conversation by saying,” this takes a lot of work… so this is what I do…” For example, the dough layers are made with egg, flour and a water mixture that is ‘paper thin’ and somewhere between a lasagna noodle and filo dough. Many recipes call for one or the other, but mostly Filo.

There is some agreement on what constitutes the cheese layer. This contains a mixture of egg, cheese and parsley. I am sure there is an inclusion of some seasonings; salt, pepper and garlic at least. This would be my choice.

This recipe as it stands today is  a bow to vegetarians everywhere; however, I suspect that the original recipes had a meat and tomato sauce layer ( Tomatoes came to Armenia late in the game). And although pork was a well used meat in austere Soviet Armenia, I suspect that lamb is preferred being widely used today and historically in and around Armenia. As with South African “Bobotie”, I think a blend of pork and lamb would be a nice change of pace with some of the commonly used Armenian spices, including Basil.

I still have a few questions on this dish… but it is coming along!

Roger

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happiness is a full biscotti jar

hazelnuts in my biscotti
ah, biscotti with hazelnuts!

Happiness is a full biscotti jar!

Now, I know that not everyone enjoys biscottis, but I always blamed it on ‘bad biscottis’ or they were not used properly. I was astounded to see people eat biscottis plain without the customary mug of coffee! sacrilege! I believe the best flavor in any biscotti is brought out by dipping it into a nice cup of coffee… and if the cup has cream with the coffee, so much the better!

Recently someone wrote me that they didn’t like adding nuts into the biscotti because the biscotti tasted ‘crunchy’ when eaten. well, I asked how she made them and it appeared that she swept in all of the nutty crumbs in as well. I like to avoid this by using only half or sliced nuts… no crumbs.

Enjoy the day.

Roger