COOKING TIP: Using Jalapeno Peppers

There is no way to determine the heat of any Jalapeno pepper by appearance. However, red peppers tend to be less hot than green ones. when cooking with Jalapenos, always taste the ones you are using and adjust the amount you use according to individual pepper's heat.

COOKING TIP: "Splatter Proof" Pan Frying

To avoid fat from cooking steaks, hamburgers, etc. from splattering all over your stove top, when cooking in a dry pan, dust the bottom of the pan with flour, shaking out any excess. The flour will absorb the fat rendered from the meat, significantly or completely preventing splatter.in a dry pan

FOOD HISTORY: Croquembouche

Croquembouche, meaning, "crunch in the mouth", is a traditional French festive (weddings, baptismals, 1st communions, etc.) cake, made of profiteroles (cream puffs) filled with pastry or whipped cream (Creme Chantilly) that are formed into a pyramid/cone  shape by being "glued" together with caramel, drizzled with more caramel, and decorated with sugared Almonds, Hazelnuts, chocolate or ribbons. The cake had it's origin in the fanciful, edible architectural structures prepared for French Royalty and Nobility called Pieces Montees. Credit for creating Croquembouche goes to the great French Pastry Chef, Antoine Careme (1784-1833), who made spectacular structures out of spun sugar, marzipan, nougatine and other sweet ingredients. Careme was a student of architecture, admiring classical buildings and studying architectural masterpieces of ancient Rome and Greece. His architectural interest and knowledge was used to create his Pieces Montees; Croquembouche was one of these in which he made a tower of cream puffs. His original tower was in the shape of a Turkish hat called a Fez, but, later, was transformed into a cone shape. Careme could not have conceived of his creation if it were not for Catherine of Medici, an Italian noblewoman who married the future King Henry II of France in 1547. When Catherine came to France from Italy, she brought her Chefs with her. Her Pastry Chef, named Panterelli, brought with him a recipe for a hot, dried dough known as Pate a Panterelli. Over the next centuries, Panterelli's dough was modified by French Pastry Chefs and, eventually, changed into a dough known as Pate a Choux (pastry of cabbages) because baked bits of this dough puffed up into hollow pastry shells resembling cabbages.  Puffs made from this dough were filled with all kinds of sweet and savory fillings. In 1760, French Pastry Chef Avice filled Pate a Choux with pastry cream and called them Profiteroles. After the many historical transformations in this pastry from Pate a Panterelli to Pate a Choux to Profiteroles, in the late 18th century, Careme took Profiteroles to greater  heights by using them to create his famous dessert, Croquembouche. Croquembouche is as dazzling a dessert today as it was in the time of Careme.

THINGS I LIKE: Pat LeMay's Shortbread.

When I retired and moved to Red Bank, NJ  from Cincinnati, OH,  Pat LeMay became my next door neighbor. Pat comes from a Scottish backround (Clan Napier) and  bakes Shortbread* as part of her family tradition. The family tradition is to bake Shortbread only for funerals and at Christmas. Pat has become a great friend as well as a neighbor. Fortunately for me, I never had to have Shortbread baked for me  for the first of Pat's family traditions but have been the recipient of her delicious Shortbread for the past several Christmases. I would like to share her recipe with you. The family recipe, which came from Paisley, Scotland and was brought to the U.S on the ship, "New Caledonia"in 1930, follows:

Pat LeMay's Shortbread

1 pound butter
1C sugar
4C flour

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar and one cup of flour..Work in remaining flour, one cup at a time, until the consistency of pie dough is reached  and shape into a ball.

Press dough into an ungreased "sided" cookie sheet until the pan is full. Prick all over with a fork, a process called,"docking".

Bake at 325F for one hour. Remove from oven and slice into pieces in the pan. Let cool in pan before removing.

Pat's Tips for Perfect Shortbread

Bake using a new cookie sheet or one that is used ONLY for Shortbread.
Bake on middle oven rack.
Bake only one batch at a time.

If you don't follow the rules, it won't come out right.

*Shortbread is a crumbly textured cookie of Scottish origin that evolved from  medieval bisquit bread; a yeast raised, twice baked bread, dusted with sugar and spices and allowed to harden. Eventually, butter (shortening) replaced yeast. The high butter to flour ratio in Shortbread retards gluten formation; short strands of proteins in flour which bind together to form long strands. Keeping the protein strands short results in a tender rather than a tough dough; hence, "shortbread". Originally, Shortbread was classified as a bisquit but this classification was opposed, vigorously, by early Shortbread bakers to avoid paying a government tax on bisquits. THE BAKERS WON!!! Scottish Shortbread is the forerunner of all subsequent butter cookies. As opposed to the Napier family tradition of when Shortbread is baked, other Scottish families bake them for weddings, New Years Eve and other festive occasions.

FOOD TRIVIA: Olive Oil

In spite of what one might think (Italy), 70% of the world's olive oil is produced in Greece.