Here are the basics of cooking with fennel for beginners - Bangor Daily News

Kasper
Home

Here are the basics of cooking with fennel for beginners - Bangor Daily News

Here are the basics of cooking with fennel for beginners - Bangor Daily News

Posted: 18 Dec 2020 07:00 AM PST

If you have never cooked with fennel before, it might look very alien in the supermarket, with its huge bulb and feathery green fronds. Overcoming initial impressions and learning how to prepare this unique, delicious ingredient will help elevate and expand your home cooking.

Fennel is a Mediterranean relative of the carrot with a licorice-like flavor.

Stephanie Enjaian, culinary arts department chair at Kennebec Valley Community College, said that the taste can be off-putting to some people, but it is one of those flavors that is truly unique and hard to replicate.

"It is one of those vegetables that's very versatile," Enjaian said. "It's also very aromatic."

Choosing a quality fennel bulb is easy — just pick one with a white or pale green bulb without bruising or blemishes, and avoid fronds that have flowered or bolted.

"Fennel is like an onion in that it has layers," said Rob Dumas, food science innovation coordinator at the University of Maine. "If one of the layers is damaged, don't be afraid to peel it off and discard it."

Once you have your fennel at home, it is time to cut it up. First, cut off the fronds and separate them from the bulb. Then, slice the bulb into smaller components, depending on what your recipe requires.

"Fennel has a core," Dumas said. "If you leave a little bit of that core like an onion you can cut it into wedges that hold together, like a cabbage."

The stalks and feathery fronds can be composted, or they can be used as a garnish or mixed into a salad.

"I put fennel in my chowders, and I'll use those fennel fronds as a garnish at the end with a little bit of parsley or celery leaves," Enjaian said. "It is very usable. You could use it dressed with vinegar and olive oil [in a] fennel chimichurri. Fennel stalks tend to be a little more fibrous and dry [but] I've seen people take them and candy them which is kind of neat. They could be used in a stock, though it does bring that anise flavor."

As for the bulb — the true prize of the fennel — one of the most delicious ways to eat it is raw, by simply shaving it and adding it to a salad.

"Slice it very thinly, either with a nice, sharp knife or a mandoline, into thin slivers or rounds," Dumas said. "Combine the shaved fennel, pomegranate seeds, spiced walnuts, lettuce mix [and] honey vinaigrette [for a] really lovely fall salad. One nice trick for that: After you shave it thin, put it in an ice bath and let it shock, and it'll get even crispier."

However, fennel is extremely versatile and not limited to this use. Fennels are often featured in tasty soups, or roasted as a scrumptious side dish.

"Give it a light drizzle with oil and salt, put that in a nice hot oven and roast it, brush it with maple syrup at the end," Dumas said. "That's really delicious with duck. Thinly sliced fennel [cooked at] low heat sweat until it's broken down like a carmelized onion under seared halibut roasted cod, that's just a phenomenal way to add a secondary or tertiary flavor to a dish."

If you are feeling ambitious and have time to wait, Dumas said to consider fermenting fennel in a sauerkraut.

"This past year, I did a 50-50 blend, fennel with green cabbage, along with caraway and celery seeds," Dumas said. "Fennel kraut has been my ultimate topper for things like [sausages]. I think fennel is just awesome."

Watch more:

Eastmark couple teaches the art of cooking | Business - East Valley Tribune

Posted: 19 Dec 2020 12:00 AM PST

Sweet Moments Company is cooking up ways for people to gather virtually and learn how to prepare everything from gourmet meals to decadent desserts – all from the comfort of their own homes.  

Mesa couple Therese and Brent Ludwig, launched the company in 2019 with a desire to connect with people through hands-on cooking and learning.

After years of owning and operating a bakery, Therese said she was ready for a change. 

"I was done with the crazy hours that came with running the bakery." she said. "I love teaching and interacting with people, sharing the knowledge of food, and getting in the kitchen and having fun." 

Sweet Moments began by offering in-home services. Therese, a trained pastry chef and culinary instructor, would conduct private cooking lessons from the person's home. 

But with COVID-19, the Ludwigs knew they had to adapt the company to the changing times. Over the summer, they transitioned all their classes to virtual formats and started marketing their services in Eastmark, the master-planned community where they reside.

Sweet Moments Company now offers a wide variety of virtual classes, including their Date Night option for couples wishing to prepare a more upscale dinner with items like seared lamb lollipops with herb couscous and red wine sauce. 

There are also several family-friendly classes to choose from including cookie decorating and cupcake-making, which Therese said tend to be some of the most popular classes. 

The company also offers general cooking classes which explore common cooking techniques that aren't quite as upscale as the Date Night option. 

In addition, they are launching a four-week Intro to Cooking Course beginning in the new year that will cover topics such as knife skills, sauce making, soups, salads, and dressings. A complete dinner will follow each session. 

Once registered for a class, all ingredients are prepared and pre-measured in the company's commercial kitchen, then either shipped or delivered to the participant's front door the day before the class.

Classes are then conducted via Zoom and are taught in real-time by Therese from her home kitchen. 

"It was important to me that I teach out of my own kitchen to show a comfortable environment and that it can be done at home," said Therese. "I want all the classes to have that warm and welcoming feeling." 

Behind the scenes, Therese's husband Brent, a full-time engineer by day, dedicates his spare time to helping with the technical side of the business, doing the camera work, filming and handling the finances. 

"He is the backbone of the company," said Therese.  Therese, who is a full-time culinary instructor at Scottsdale Community College, manages the company's social media, responds to emails, handles all the class bookings, shops for the ingredients and prepares the ingredients for all the classes. 

With so many moving parts, Therese said it has been tough getting everything organized as the company continues to grow. 

"Time has been our biggest challenge," she said, adding; "We've spent a lot of time developing our products, figuring out new packaging, and creating new methods to make it more efficient."

Therese said they have plans to expand and hope to eventually bring on more chefs and some help with the kitchen prep work and the portioning and shipping in the new year. 

While COVID-19 has taken a toll on several small businesses, Therese said Sweet Moments has thrived in its new virtual format. 

"It has had a positive impact on us and really helped kick-start our business," she said. 

The company also offers private course bookings which Therese said have been a hit with large corporations. 

"A lot of companies are contacting us wanting to set up a virtual get together as a holiday gift to their employees or as a team building event," said Therese. 

Bringing people together in the kitchen is exactly what inspired the name for the company. Therese, who said her love for cooking and baking was fostered by her mother, said she wanted to recreate those special memories for others.

"It is so rewarding to see people interact and do something together," said Therese. "It's not just about cooking, it's about bringing sweet moments to the kitchen." 

 

Information: smcoaz.com.

 

19 Recipes Our Food Staff Cooked on Repeat in 2020 - The New York Times

Posted: 16 Dec 2020 08:28 AM PST

At the end of each year, Spotify releases personalized lists of the songs and artists that users listened to most over the last 12 months. There's no algorithm to count exactly how many times the Food staff made the recipes below in 2020, but consider it the NYT Cooking version of the streaming giant's end-of-year recap. Among the greatest hits: cheesy pan pizza, Momofuku bo ssam, and, of course, the year's sleeper hit, Mark Bittman's No-Knead Bread.

(View our collections of the best of 2020 including Our 50 Most Popular Recipes of 2020, Our 50 Most Popular Vegetarian Recipes of 2020 and Our 50 Most Popular Desserts of 2020)

The songs that got me through the year were beans and garlic toast in broth and kale sauce, which I used to dress pasta, poach eggs, layer in lasagnas or surround with soft polenta. And every time I made sprouts, or had some crunchy vegetables like fennel or cucumber around, I made Eric Kim's delicious muchims plus a little pot of rice. TEJAL RAO

I typically add seared scallops to this very substitute-friendly farro salad by David Tanis, though it's comfortably filling on its own. The heartiness of the vinaigrette and farro combination is what gives this dish a stand-alone quality. If you're trying to add more veggies to your diet, this is a simple and flavorful way to start. DAVID LOOK

Recipe: Farro Salad

Bristol Bay sockeye salmon has been our go-to dinner once or twice a week. I usually put it skin side down in a hot cast-iron skillet. And with a nod to J. Kenji López Alt, though I did not need him to tell me this but it was nice to be validated, I trowel some mayonnaise over the flesh side and run it under the broiler. A couple of sides, candlelight and a nice pinot noir make it dinner. FLORENCE FABRICANT

I make batches of Samin Nosrat's dressing all the time and keep it in Mason jars in the fridge. I use it on greens and steamed vegetables. Also, I perfected caramel making a lot of these apple crisps over the fall and will continue to make them through the winter. Sometimes I just make the caramel and let everyone dip in apple slices. Or put it on ice cream. Don't judge. It's a pandemic. KIM SEVERSON

Recipe: Via Carota's Insalata Verde | Skillet Caramel-Apple Crisp

In early April, I thought it'd be easier to make David Tanis's homemade pita bread than to make a grocery store run. It was less stressful than going out and the process of kneading and shaping the dough, then watching it puff in the oven was therapeutic. I've been turning them out ever since. GENEVIEVE KO

Recipe: Homemade Pita Bread

The recipe I've made most is Jim Lahey's no-knead bread, adapted by Mark Bittman. We barely kept bread in the house before the pandemic and now my kids expect to have homemade bread on hand at all times. Alison Roman's baked ziti has also been in regular rotation as it's one of the few dishes everyone in the house will eat, and it's one of my daughter's favorites. KIM GOUGENHEIM

Recipe: No-Knead Bread | Baked Ziti

Tejal Rao's version of pan pizza turned out to be a perfect-size dinner for my family of three, and mixing the dough in the morning gave us something to look forward to through some very long days. JULIA MOSKIN

Recipe: Cheesy Pan Pizza

Like many of us, I've spent much of the year working from home with little kids in the house, so I've relied on my trusty old slow cooker to do the grunt work while I hide away in my office (ahem, playroom) hunched over my laptop. Three recipes I turned to again and again are Sam Sifton's Mississippi roast (also great with pork shoulder) and Sarah DiGregorio's white chicken chili as well as her salsa verde chicken. Also a household favorite: Ali Slagle's cheesy spicy black beans. Not a slow cooker dish, but ready in 15 minutes and endlessly adaptable. MARGAUX LASKEY

I noticed a pattern this year. On weeks that I had a batch of Genevieve Ko's whole grain banana yogurt muffins ready in the freezer to quickly reheat, I was 83.6 percent less likely to have a meltdown because, say, the baby managed to eat some dog food while I was trying to write an email. EMILY FLEISCHAKER

Recipe: Whole-Grain Banana Yogurt Muffins

I have been cooking Marcelle Bienvenu's jambalaya regularly since the pandemic began. It calls for diced tomatoes, making use of those cans I stocked up on earlier this year, and it is quick and endlessly adaptable. Her recipe calls for shrimp, ham and sausage for the proteins, but I often just use smoked sausage or a mix of andouille and smoked sausage. I added the last bit of turkey breast from Thanksgiving to the last batch I made.

I've also been obsessed with ramen eggs this year. I always forget to bring my eggs to room temperature before boiling so they're slightly more underdone than they're supposed to be. But I am now trying to follow Ivan Orkin's path, using his half-cooked eggs recipe from "Ivan Ramen." SARA BONISTEEL

Recipe: Jambalaya | Half-Cooked Eggs

I probably make Grace Lee's kimchi fried rice every other week, and I'll never get tired of it. When I cook a big pot of rice, I double it and save half to make that recipe — and when I order takeout, I always get extra rice for the same purpose.

I nearly always keep potatoes on hand, and this year, I found myself using them in Tejal Rao's aloo masala, a recipe as flavorful as it is forgiving. KRYSTEN CHAMBROT

Recipe: Aloo Masala

What to Cook This Weekend - The New York Times

Posted: 18 Dec 2020 07:30 AM PST

Everything's lists for me, these days. Lists of gifts to buy, yes, and lists of tasks to complete around the house, lists of ingredients I need for the tiny Christmas feast I'm planning, but also work lists: our most popular recipes of the year, along with our most popular desserts; our most popular vegetarian recipes and on down the line.

One of the lists I like best records the 50 recipes our readers loved most: the recipes they — you! — saved the most this year, to return to again and again. I see so many delights there, recipes perfect for weekend cooking. Among them, pasta e ceci (above), the Italian pasta and chickpea stew; caramelized shallot pasta; cheesy pan pizza.

Also, of course, Samin Nosrat's big lasagna, which I'd like to knock down over the course of the next couple of days, starting tonight, so I can serve it on Sunday late afternoon, while the Jets play the Rams.

What else to cook this weekend? Maybe this roast chicken tonight? Definitely these crazy-amazing malt chocolate and marshmallow sandwiches. And these soft sugar cookies with raspberry frosting. And maybe these eggnog snickerdoodles, while you're at it?

How about a hot brown for lunch tomorrow? Or a fried eggplant sandwich? Or a bowl of tomato soup? (That last requires a grilled cheese, for accompaniment and dipping.) I'll skip lunch on Sunday on account of the coming lasagna. But for breakfast that day, I'm thinking: corn muffins, split and griddled with butter.

Thousands and thousands more recipes to cook this weekend are waiting for your appraisal on NYT Cooking. Save the recipes you want to cook and rate the ones you've made. Leave notes on them, too, if you want to remember something you did to make a recipe better, or if you want to tell your fellow subscribers about it.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I say "fellow subscribers" because you need to be a subscriber to enjoy all that NYT Cooking has to offer. Subscriptions are the fuel in our stoves. Please, if you haven't already, I hope you will subscribe to NYT Cooking today. Thank you.

We are, in turn, standing by to help if anything goes sideways while you're cooking or using our site and apps. Just write us: cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you, I promise.

Now, it's a long and lonely drive from egg rolls and coffee cake, but I do like Bruce McCall's "My Life in Cars," in The New Yorker, about his time spent writing advertising copy.

You've gotta read Wesley Morris on Radha Blank and Hannah Gadsby, in The New York Times Magazine.

Also in The Times, make room for the indispensable "Playlist," which introduced me to Mark Ronson's remix of Troye Sivan's "Easy," featuring Kacey Musgraves.

Don't forget that Erin Jeanne McDowell will be on @nytcooking IG Live at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, to assemble and decorate her gingerbread houses. You can play along. Here's the recipe for the gingerbread. Here's the printable template for making the pieces. And here's the primer video on YouTube.

Finally, here's "Resilient Pieholes" in the Bellingham Review – that's Quincy Scott Jones, Chaya Babu, Stacie Evans and Ana-Maurine Lara on cooking during a pandemic. Read up and I'll see you on Sunday.

34 Tweets About Cooking Burnout That Are All Too Real - HuffPost

Posted: 18 Dec 2020 03:00 AM PST

The COVID-19 pandemic forced most of us to stay home and cook a lot more of our own meals this year.

While the novelty was fun for many at first (throwback to the bread-baking craze), it's only natural that it would wear off after awhile. And it did: Many people are reporting feeling pretty burned out when it comes to cooking these days.

If you'd give anything never to mince another clove of garlic, you're in good company. We've rounded up 34 funny tweets about 2020 cooking burnout.


from What to Cook https://ift.tt/3ax8KK5
google-playkhamsatmostaqltradent