Autumn is Here and Back to the Stove We Go

Isn’t it always interesting at how the weather affects us in how much cooking we actually do? When autumn comes around, wihch happens to be my very most favorite season of the year, I start cooking up a storm. I know I am not alone in this habit, nor would I want to be.

It is with the cooler weather, the warmth of the stove brings us back into the kitchen, the thought of thick stews simmering in a slow oven, trying out that recipe you saw in a recent magazine to making hot tea at night to calm one down from the hetic pace of the day since it seems shorter in daylight hours.

You are not dreaming, the daylight hours are shorter come starting in October, and it is especially noticeable in New York. The smell in the air, the crisper fresh air allows me to open my windows when I can to get the last of the fresh air to breeze through my home.

I notice, like so many of you, the changes in my diet and in what dishes I prepare seeking out more soups, hearty meals to warm my soul and this brings me to one of my more favorite drinks to enjoy with friends and family when entertaining this fall: mulled wine.

Now some of you might ask, what the heck is mulled wine? Well, it’s simply warmed up red wine mixed with several spices and in my recipe, with apple cider. Here’s the skinny in making this quick easy warm drink to have a glass while you sit by your first of the year fire in the living room.

Ingredients:

• red wine – preferred a merlot or cabernet 2 cups
• 2-3 cups apple cider (not juice)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• cinnamon sticks – one per mug for serving
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 star anise
• 3 slices of fresh navel oranges – cut in half
• Equipment: Soup or stock pot

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into stock pot, and let come to a simmer, then continue to simmer for 5-7 minutes stirring occassionaly.
2. Serve up with warmed mugs or hearty glasses that have handles.
3. Add fresh cinnamon stick into mug/glass/add fresh slice of orange if you wish.
4. Sit by a warm fire, or snuggle on a couch watching your favorite CSI t.v. show. Enjoy!

The smell of this concotion simmering in a pot on top of your stove is sure to make all your visitors feel more than welcome into your home.

Rosh Hashanah Dinner Menu – Happy New Year

This past Monday I made (with some help) a large and super tasty meal for my very first Rosh Hashanah Dinner. I may not be Jewish, but my guy is and we thought to make a nice meal for several of our friends, one couple whose wedding we had just gone to days before. So to keep the festivities going from their new wedding bliss, my guy and I sought out to create one heck of a meal.

I learned a lot including adding a few new dishes and appetizers to my arsenal of recipes, all of which came out wonderfully. I share them with you here. One thing that I found most interesting what that you eat certain foods to help start the new year sweetly – so that it is sweeter than the previous year. I am all for that. And certain foods are quite traditional as well such as pumpkin, pomegranates, honey, whole fish, just to name a few. Let me share with you some of the reasons as to why you eat these foods and the thoughts behind them.

By eating a head of a fish…yes, you make a large whole fish is “to help represent being ahead for the new year, and not ‘be’ the tail for the new year”…thankfully my guy’s brother is making this one..2) eating a new fruit or apple with honey, so help bring in sweetness to the new year and that your new year will be sweeter than the last year…3) also foods such as beets, pumpkins, spinach, dates, pomegranates.

One particular cool thing about the pomegranates is that they supposedly contain 613 seeds. Thus, Jews display their desire to fulfill God’s 613 mitzvoth (commandments from the Torah) by eating the pomegranate. ok I did not know that…

I will provide all the recipes in a separate post.

So our party menu is the following:

• Sliced apples dipped in honey (the honey was from a local farm and was incredible!) to start (tradition I’m told) all said with a beginning prayer for the meal/feast.
  
• Clear chicken soupwith special spices
• Spinach patties and leak with ground beef patties (new to me, my guy and I made these – and they were fantastic! You make them the night before and serve them up cold.
• Whole fish served in a creamy super light sauce with chopped tomatoes (will have to ask my guy’s brother for the recipe – it was amazing and looked incredibly pretty)
• Super Salad which resembles a Greek salad with fresh feta cheese, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, red onions, parsley, tomatoes with only fresh lemon juice and olive oil. This was mostly all vegetables and very little lettuce at all.
• homemade hummus – (already posted)
• homemade tortilla chips and toasted pita bread
• cilantro pesto (posted)
• zahatar and olive oil for bread dipping (posted)
• cilantro bean salad (my dish – posted)
• honey glazed carrots
• steamed green beans with then toasted almonds, garlic and drizzled olive oil (posted)
• Cilantro Basmati Rice (posted)
• A huge Roasted rib eye roast (posted)
• Yorkshire pudding and homemade horseradish sauce (ok this is totally me, but heck, give this wasp girl a break – lol)
• pumpkin pie and pecan pie from scratch
• Honey Cake (very traditional and kosher as well)
• then the usual wine, coffee lattes, turkish coffee, etc.

This was followed by followed by two days of cleaning…was it worth it all?… You betcha! You could tell everyone was so impressed (always love that factor, I admit!) – the food was super tasty, beautiful looking and was enjoyed by all…as it turns out, I did have left overs and have been making some interesting new dishes which I will share in another post….Chef Maven

Happy New Year!

Our Daily Dinner – What Are You Having For Dinner Tonight?

Hi everyone, I belong to a recipe site, like so many of us these days. At this site, we can share recipes and chat – great place to share one’s cooking stories and tips – and many times a good laugh is had by all…

So, since this is a very active post, I thought and decided to start a daily dinner post here at my blog, feel free to share what you are having for dinner tonight…

For tonight’s dinner, I am making penne pasta with garden peas, homemade basil pesto, fresh sliced plum tomatoes with just a few sauteed garlic shrimp on top. For Salad I am having my usual fresh tarragon salad dressing over mixed greens and purple cabbage and carrots with a few rosemary bread croutons I made just the other day from a loaf of bread I made. And lastly for starters I am serving up some fresh guacamole with extra cilantro and lime juice with homemade tortilla chips.

So what’s on your plate for tonight? Let us know… add your comments…Chef Maven and others would love to hear…