Musings: Keeping Warm

I really thought with the rush of the Holidays being over, I'd have more time and motivation to get back into the kitchen, but it's taken me a lot longer than I expected. Last year was a busy and challenging year, and I hadn't realized how much it had sapped my energy until I was able to hit the restart button at the beginning of the new year. So in the last week or so I've been catching up, and taking a little time to review things.

One of the key things I've also been trying to do, like many people in the northern hemisphere, right now is stay warm! It's been a particularly brutal winter so far, and it's had me searching for soups and warming stews. A Slow-Cooker was under the Christmas tree this year, so I've been test driving it a lot in last couple of weeks.

This need for capturing warmth and coziness has also had me searching through old cookbooks to find cookie recipes that can stand up to being "dunked" in a good cup of coffee or hot chocolate - yummy! For some reason I've been obsessed with trying to find a recipe to replicate one of my favorites, that also happens to be a staple in many New Zealand homes - Gingernuts. Unlike other ginger cookies, these substantial cookies have a hard exterior making them perfect for "dunking" as they have the body to stand up to the hot liquid without disintegrating.

My quest to find the perfect Gingernut replica hit a wee snag on my first attempt. While the cookie had the right texture and looked good, it lacked the sweet spiciness I was searching for - to be perfectly honest, they looked great but tasted horrible. In a desperate bid to find a decent recipe for gingernuts before the next round of storms arrives, I decided to modify an old recipe of the past - the ingredients were the perfect blend of spiciness and sweetness but the texture never met my expectations - they would always come out a big blobby mess and more often than not, ended up spreading across the cookie pan into flat discs not worthy of dunking. So, with some coaxing and experimentation, I am pleased to announce SUCCESS. The perfect homemade gingernut worthy of dunking into your favorite hot brew. So, next time you're looking for a substantial, spicy cookie try my gingernuts...

Entertaining: Will you be my Valentine?

There's nothing more romantic than cooking a special meal for that "someone" in your life. This menu is high on impact and low on effort - it will certainly have your Valentine saying yes.

What to Drink

Champagne is a nice start to a special occasion, but many people are happy with just one glass and then moving to wine with their meal. Try buying a half bottle (375ml) - that way you can have bubbles and wine without too many headaches.

If you want to start the evening off with a cocktail instead, try a Between The Sheets.

Preparation

Here are some tips to make the dinner go smoothly:

• Buy the groceries, flowers and alcoholic beverages two days before the dinner. Then all you have to do on the day is pick up some fresh bread.
• Have the bread sliced at the grocery store - saves time, and fuss.
• Lay the table and do the centerpiece the night before. If you live with your "Valentine to be" and don't want to spoil the surprise, get everything ready to go the night before and wait to lay everything out until on the day.
• Prepare the vegetables for the warm salad the night before, put them in individual zip lock bags and store them in the refrigerator overnight.
• Make the chocolate sauce a couple of days ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Gently reheat in a double boiler just before serving.
• Prepare the dipping sauce for the bread first so that you can have a nibble with a pre-dinner drink while you are waiting for the rest of the meal to cook.

Tablescape

Create an intimate experience by serving dinner at a small table somewhere cozy, like in front of a fire.

Use unscented candles in various shapes and heights for that romantic glow.

Reds and pinks are the traditional theme colors for Valentine's Day, so try layering different shades together to create an opulent setting.

Flowers are expensive on Valentine's Day, so pick them up a couple of days beforehand, you won't be paying inflated prices and the flowers will be at their best.

If you buy flowers ahead of time, trim the ends of the flowers and place them in a vase or bucket of room temperature water. Store the flowers in a cool place so that they don't wilt before you need them.

Cooking: Pomegranates

Using unusual or exotic ingredients is sometimes a great way of adding something a little special when you entertain. I'm always on the lookout for things a little different, something that will peak my guests interest. When selecting a new ingredient I like to take into consideration my guests tastes, as well as other flavors and textures being used in the menu. I'm not a believer of using an ingredient for the sake of it - it has to bring something special to the meal.

In the past I've bought Pomegranates. I've winkled the little seeds out, and then munched on them, often times covering myself in their indelible juice. But I've never actually used them when cooking and have never tried Pomegranate Juice, on it's own despite it being readily available in my local grocery store. So, recently when I was approached by POM Wonderful to try their Pomegranate Juice, I jumped at the chance. But before I launch straight into the "juice", I thought it would be good to investigate Pomegranates as a fruit.

Cultivated in tropical climates across the world, with main production of pomegranates coming from the Middle East and South America. Pomegranates have joined the ranks of "superfood" as they contain calcium, potassium, and iron, as well as phytonutrients which help protect against heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. High in antioxidants, pomegranates are thought to help reduce the impact of aging and neutralize twice as many free radicals as red wine and seven times more than green tea.

Pomegranates have their place in history. Long regarded as the symbol of love and fertility because of the fruits numerous seeds, pomegranates have been eaten and used for their medicinal properties for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians fermented pomegranates to produce a rich wine, and pomegranate seeds were often dried and used a condiment.

Buying and Storing

Pomegranates are a round baseball sized fruit that starts to appear in grocery stores in late summer, early fall. They have a thin yet tough skin which is generally either a reddish yellow or green color. This surrounds a mass of ruby colored pulpy seeds.

Pomegranates can be stored at room temperature for up to a week and for several weeks if refrigerated.

Uses

Pomegranates are a popular ingredient in Middle Eastern and Persian cooking as well as Asian cooking. The pomegranate seeds are used as a condiment in some cuisines; pomegranate concentrate is used in Lebanese dishes such as meatballs and stuffed fish; fresh seeds are frequently used in salads, in main dishes and scattered on couscous; juices are used in cocktails, marinades, dressings and soups; and crushed seeds are used in meat dishes from India and Pakistan.

Other Interesting Facts

• Pomegranates are a key ingredient in making Grenadine - a syrup used for coloring cocktails and aperitifs.
• Pomegranate juice can be used as an alternative to lemon juice
• The festive color of pomegranate seeds and juice make them a perfect ingredient for holiday entertaining.

Flavor Matching

Due to the sweet yet acidic properties of pomegranates, they are best used either with bold flavored ingredients that can stand up to the pomegranate flavor, or alternatively be used to compliment a bland flavored ingredient. Here's a list of ingredients which are a good match with pomegranates:

So it's off to the kitchen to start experimenting. We'll post the results soon...

Quick Tips: When Is A Cup Not A Cup?

Have you ever baked something and it didn't come out quite right? Was it either too dry or didn't rise? Have you thought, "well I don't like that cookbook" because of it?

I have to admit I've been a victim of this situation more than once. So, after being asked by several different people, I decided to find out what could be the problem.

Firstly, cooking and baking are completely different. The best why to describe the difference is by comparing them with another subject. Cooking is like painting a picture. You add a dash of this and splash of that and there you have it. Recipes are really guidelines that can be tweaked depending on whether you have a particular ingredient or not.

Baking, on the other hand, is really chemistry. The measurements need to be exact so that the recipe turns out correctly. Sure, you can change the flavorings and some of the ingredients, but the foundation of the recipe really needs to stay the same otherwise you'll have an unpleasant surprise with the outcome.

So when a recipe calls for a cup of something when cooking, it's okay if it isn't exact. But it's the direct opposite when you are baking - exact is the only way to go.

So, you say to me, "but I used the exact ingredients and the recipe still didn't come out right". Well, the problem could be what sized cups you used for the recipe because unfortunately, everyone doesn't use the same measuring system.

When someone develops a recipe, they use particular measuring cups, jugs and spoons. Many times the author will have a statement at the front or the back of the book telling you what measurements they've used for the recipe. Where things become a bit muddy is when you are using a recipe off the Internet or an international book or magazine. The recipes can be from anywhere and unfortunately, the same measuring system isn't used throughout the world.

So, you know where the recipe is from and you know what measurements have been used in the recipe and you're still having problems. By this time you're probably thinking that you should shelve that recipe and maybe even steer clear of baking. Well, there is one more thing for you to check and this is where it does start to get complicated.

Different countries use different measurements. Australians use a different measurement to the United Kingdom and the USA is different again - so where are your measuring spoons and cups manufactured? To further add to the confusion, in some countries, for example, the US, both the original imperial cups are available as well as metric cups. Unfortunately, many of them do not specify which they are - the only way to really know is by checking the milliliter equivalent if they have one written on it.

The best way to get around this situation is to use all one kind of measuring cup or spoon when you're baking but one step further is to choose recipes that use weights and fluid measurements rather than cups.