Elegant Easter Dinner Entrees

Lamb's always a favorite at our house over the Easter season, especially this Leg of Lamb Mosaic Recipe. Think I'll grab a leg of lamb- boneless is easier, but it's sometimes pricey... I'll bone it myself if I have to!

We always have roasted red peppers on hand at the deli (for one of our sandwiches). And that's the way to put this recipe together: Have some of the prep done ahead of time (like roasting the red peppers a day or two before). It's just routine at the deli: Roast the peppers until almost blackened on all sides, then let cool in a covered bowl. The skins slip off quite easily when you do that.

The rest of the lamb recipe is pretty easy. But it looks so classy! Another favorite dinner entree for us is: Pork Loin Stuffed w/Apple Sage Corn Bread. I got some ideas from all the posted recipes with a similar theme. (After all, apple, sage, corn bread and pork go so well together.) But I'm most fond of my own rendition; I added the extra goodies (the apple, some grilled onion, the herbs, etc.) to the corn bread itself. It seemed easier; I could make that part of the recipe a day early, and the Apple Sage Corn Bread Recipe makes some extra, so we can sample some of that the day before. Perfect!

Now... maybe we need two special Easter dinner menus. I love both of these dinner ideas!

Seeing Green

I glance over the "trending" words of the day on my Yahoo page, but the topics never sound all that interesting. Today the topics include Sheryl Crow and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Really? Is there anything horribly interesting about these folks today?

But a new friend on Twitter brought my attention to the new BioPod Plus. Now that sounds interesting! I'll probably be ordering this product; so far my research is yielding impressive info about this composter.

Apparently, this is totally cutting edge. With the speed of the internet, info like this is getting out into the recesses of everyday folk like me. No need for thousands of advertising dollars; just get a good product and the buzz with catch up with it in no time. I feel like telling everyone about this composter!!!

I've done composting for 30 years, off and on. I've dealt with the challenges. Anyone who does composting can tell you about those. And there are all kinds of approaches to composting, different styles and equipment. I just never felt like any one of them was that much better than any other approach.

But here comes along this "BioPod Plus" for Composting Food Waste. And I am impressed. Prota Culture, a waste management solutions company, has developed this amazing bin that uses native grubs to turn kitchen scraps into a fertilizer for the garden (and food for any chickens, birds, or fish you happen to have on hand).

 Compost bins can typically take 12 to 18 weeks to break down their contents, while a BioPod Plus filled with grubs recycles most food scraps in less than 48 hours. That's less than two days, people!

Nine years of research and development has put to work a harmless, native arthropod that doesn't sting, bite or transmit disease (commonly known as the Black Soldier Fly). These ‘Soldier Grubs’ are often found in most compost piles; the BioPod Plus utilizes them im an innovative way, by ingenious design.

“Soldier grubs take composting from monotonous to miraculous,” said BioPod Plus co-creator Karl Warkomski. Reduce your carbon footprint now, diverting kitchen scraps away from sewers and landfill. Isn't it only a matter of time before we can't throw those scraps in the trash anyways?

The BioPod Plus has a built-in drainage system and a collection bucket that makes auto-harvesting easy. Another big plus: No big smelly compost pile! (Not that every compost pile stinks, but I know mine does at times, when I'm turning it at the wrong time...)

So while Yahoo and MSN show their trends of the day, I will trend on another exciting topic: The potential for successful composting!

Quick and Easy Easter Recipe, Economical too

I threw a pork loin roast in the oven a few years back, figuring, it's a piece of meat; of course it'll turn out tasty, right?

Wrong! The roast was dry and tough, even though I didn't overcook it. Sad face. But it had been such a good price... surely I could find a way to work with it?

So I researched and experimented. Came up with my own Pork Loin Roast Recipe, with a quick and easy marinade. It turned out great! Now, with Easter coming up, and budgets still tight for many of us, I thought I'd remind folks to check this budget recipe out. I came up with a fancier recipe too, stuffing the pork loin with an apple-sage stuffing (that recipe is here). But for quick and easy, check out the marinated one.

Oh, and please, please, stumble the recipe on this page! I am hoping to get it on the map... My research has shown that it's one of the most popular recipes on my website, but, alas, it's still not quite been discovered at stumbleupon. Be a pal and vote it up there! And many thanks for that!

Easter Dinner Ideas

I researched some recipes for Prime Rib; posted findings here: Prime Rib Roast, Easter Dinner Recipes. I discovered in my experiments, that you can indeed turn the oven off, putting roast back in (according to directions on the recipe), and not have it get overcooked.

I also discovered that Yorkshire Pudding (a perfect accompaniment to roast beef) can be easily made, since you can make the batter for it a day ahead. Ah, anything to make dinner preparations quick and easy on serving day!

Another discovery: You can make the Blue Cheese Cream Sauce ahead of time too, and simply microwave it a touch before serving. Ah, and quick and easy Easter dinner menu. That's what I was looking for!

"The Amazing Cucumber", Or Just Tasty...

"The Amazing Cucumber" is mentioned in an email making the rounds lately. Now I love cucumber, but I have my doubts about some of the claims I've included further on in this post.

I'm well aware of how many urban legends float around the internet. So when a friend emailed me something about cucumbers, I checked the validity of the message, as usual. I typically do a google search using a few of the key words, and very often, snopes articles appear, telling whether the article in question is true or false. Very handy!

When I did my research this time, I found pages of articles, all word-for-word cut-and-pasted... tens of blogs (thousands, perhaps? I quit checking out all the pages), all reprinting the information, some even assuming authorship. Other posts mentioned that the original article came from the New York Times (a "Spotlight on the Home" series). Well, I checked out the New York Times, and found nothing, absolutely nothing, in relation to these "amazing cucumber" claims. But I guess if one blogger mentions that it was originally posted in the New York Times, and other bloggers read about it, they just might make the same claim themselves, if they don't check to discover otherwise. It certainly seems to lend validity to their posts. (Unless you happen to know it's not true!)

In my online travels, I ran across some interesting people. I traced the profiles of one woman in particular, who seemed to be claiming herself the original author of this piece of work. As I dug deeper, I found her profile on Twitter, mentioning that her true goal is to help other people make money online. And maybe this is the key that I've been missing all along; the key for which I refuse to pay anyone for: Just find some interesting stuff that's a hot topic right now, and print your own version, and get lots of hits to your monetized site, and make lots of money!

Somehow, it seems a bit indecent. But hey, in any case, here's the original email message:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2.Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams..

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!

Now, I don't mean to spoil everyone's cucumber fun... And I admit, I get a bit serious sometimes. But hey, I just don't want to go to the bother of putting that cucumber into the aluminum pie tin in order to kill the slugs, only to find that it doesn't really work. (I get so excited about such prospects; I don't want to be disappointed!) But just in case I have started to spoil anyone's good fun, I found this comment on a forum on snopes, which should put us all back into a good mood. If the internet can do that much for us, then I guess it's all right :)

(Taken from a snopes forum page): "Cucumbers can temporarily repair a broken fuel injector. Cut the cucumber into thirds lengthwise; remove the retaining grommet, pull out the injector, and insert a third of the cucumber, remembering to plug the fuel line into the end of the cucumber.

In an emergency (such as being lost in the desert) a dog can live for up to thirty minutes on cucumbers alone.

Cucumbers can serve as bookmarks for very thick books.

Egyptologists believe that the huge blocks of stone used to make the Pyramids were rolled up inclined planes by using millions of cucumbers as rollers.

Elton John used to use cucumber slices as frames for his spectacles.

The word "cucumber" is funny because it has a "k" sound. Two in fact, so it's practically hilarious.

The word "cucumber" comes from two Old English words, "cu" and "cumber." "Cu" means "cow." "Cumber" means "to strike repeatedly on the head with a blunt instrument." To this day cows flinch when they see cucumbers. Therefore, bullfighters would be well advised to jam a cucumber down the front of their trousers before entering the ring, just in case.

"Cucumber" has exactly the same meter as "Moon River," so if you're writing a spoof of a Johnny Mercer song, there's your beginning right there."

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Perfect hard-boiled eggs: How to do that?! With Easter coming up, and 25 years of experience at The New Deli (where we boil about 72 eggs once or twice a week), I thought I'd share.

An article on MSN Delish mentioned one way to do it: Just put the eggs in a pot, cover with water (to 2" above the eggs), and bring to a boil. Then, remove the eggs from the heat and let them sit for 10 minutes before pouring off the hot water and refilling the pot with cold water to cool them.

That's almost how we do it at The New Deli, but I don't know if the above method would be fool-proof. If you cook a large number of eggs, it will take a longer time for the pot to get up to a boil; the eggs closest to the burner will get too hot (and become overcooked and rubbery). So, the solution? Bring a separate pot of water to a boil first. That way, you can pour boiling water over a pot of eggs, putting that pot back on the burner to come back up to a boil. It won't take too long for it to get back up to boiling. Once there, remove the eggs from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Then do the same cooling routine, pouring off the hot water and refilling the pot with cold water. (Do this twice, if necessary, to cool the eggs off quicker.)

Oh, and the egg coloring companies aren't joking when they tell you to used cooled-off eggs. I tried using very freshly boiled, slightly warm eggs one year, thinking it would help the colors to stick better; my results weren't as positive...

Another suggestion I just read about: Add 1-2 TBS. vinegar to the pot of egg-cooking water. It can help if there's the slightest crack, to keep egg contents from splurging out. I'll have to try this next batch I do!

Recipes That Work

I just noticed a Cream of Celery Soup recipe, posted on MSN Delish (here). I had to marvel, just a bit, about how unimpressed I was with it! It seems there are so many recipes, one can hardly find a source they trust. Which recipe to choose?!?

I had to wonder, how many recipes are floating around, written by amateurs, who are simply recycling already existing recipes? Give me some new information! Give me some hot tips! Tell me something I don't already know!

OK, as a food professional, maybe I'm expecting a bit much. But with the internet, we have the privilege (and also the detriment), of free publishing, by anybody who wants to post, whether they're qualified or not. There is no publishing house to review the quality or the accuracy of any of the information. We might be able to find anything, but anything is not necessarily valuable.

So I checked out the Cream of Celery Soup recipe today, thinking of how that recipe would not be one I'd really want to follow. At The New Deli, we've been trying to make a good Celery Soup for years, that had tons of flavor without the fibrous flecks of celery in it. Even when processed, the cooked celery doesn't puree exactly "smooth". We got to the point of pureeing, then straining- that really seems to help.

Also mentioned in the Delish recipe: Process the cooked potato as well. No mention of how potatoes have the potential of getting a over-starchy, glue-like consistency when over-processed. So I warn you here: Watch out for that! I personally would add the cooked potatoes last, pureeing just until smooth.

Oh, and another tip for flavor, when making Cream of Celery Soup: Add celery seed when cooking the celery; it will super-charge the soup with flavor. If you've made this soup a hundred times, like we have at The New Deli, you come up with a few extra tips! And then you post them, wondering... will anyone be able to find the good recipes, mixed in with all that other stuff?!