Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s Begin in the Kitchen

Mark Bittman's NYT column this week offers up an excellent must-have list of ingredients for running a successful family kitchen.

It's like he's been to my kitchen!

My favorite...

OUT Canned beans (except in emergencies).

IN Dried beans. More economical, better tasting, space saving and available in far more varieties.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Super Easy Alfredo - Nestle table Cream 2

Image
We are not counting calories, just deliciousness! Ingredients: 1 package of fettuccine pasta Nestle table cream 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup parmesan (real, not processed) grated cheese Salt Freshly grated pepper (not fresh? will not make it!) Cook it: Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt when water is boiling. Add fettucine pasta. Cook according to package directions (I like Barilla). Drain; cover and set aside. IN a large skillet, melt butter. Stir in cream, cheese, salt and pepper (be careful on the salt, the cheese gets salty) Cook over medium heat 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. When hot, stir in fettucine. After 1-2 minutes, when pasta is hot, serve accompanied by extra cheese and pepper for sprinkling, if desired.
Read more

The Real Brazilian Flan (Pudim, or Caramel Flan)

Image
My friend David loves flan. Sometimes, he even dreams about it. David used to own this large company, so every Christmas they used to have a potluck dinner, and trying to make "the boss" happy, all latin women in the company would bring their own secret recipe family flan. David tells me he never tasted any flan there that compared to the one below. This is the real thing, the one that used to come in the cans of condensed milk 30 years ago. AH! Flan should NEVER be eaten with fruit. The only thing you can eat flan with is caramel sauce. Brazilian Milk Pudim (flan) Ingredients: A. Caramel sauce: 1 1⁄2 cups of sugar 2 cups of water B. Flan: 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (the best one is "La Lechera " from Nestle. I buy it at the Norwalk stop and Shop or any Hispanic market. If you can't find it, Magnolia is second best) 1 can of milk of full milk (use the can from the condensed milk to measure the milk) 3-4 eggs (de
Read more

Banana Compote

Image
I grew up with this "compote". When bananas where really cheap at the market, my mom would buy a ton of them, cook it, and conserve it in jars, so it was always available. In Brazil, we eat it with a creamy cheese called "requeijão", but a cream cheese will do just fine. Once you add the spices in, the house smells so good, you'll want to do it over and over again. INGREDIENTS: 12 large bananas, ripe (over ripe works great as well) 4 cups water 4 cup sugar 4 stick cinnamon 5 cloves, whole Juice from 1 lime PREPARATION: In a heavy saucepan (high heat), dissolve sugar well in water. Peel and cut bananas in rounds, about 1.2 inch, and add to the pan. When it starts boiling, add the lime juice (it will make it a beautifull purle-red color) and the cinnamon and cloves. Reduce heat to lowest. During the first 10, 15 minutes, it will form a "foam" on top, that will make the compote more cristaline if you remove it once
Read more