One of the most frequent questions I get as a culinary instructor is about cooking oils. Which oil do I saute in, which oil do I use for roasting, which oil do I stir fry in? Out of the various methods of cooking, I think that choosing the right stir fry oil makes all the difference whether or not your stir fry is a success. The oil for stir frying should be able to withstand a temperature of 485 without smoking and at the same time provide a clean, smooth fresh flavor without bitterness.

Enter The Republic of Teak Stir Fry Tea Oil. As one of the culinary riches of China, the oil is made from cold pressed tea seeds that have been harvested in the hillsides of southern China tea provinces. This oil is a good fat, loaded with stable omega fatty acids. But more than that, your stir fries will taste light, healthy and just the way they were intended to be.

www.republicoftea.com

ASIAN STIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH RED PEPPERS AND BROCCOLI

Chicken
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch long, ½ inch wide strips
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp arrowroot or cornstarch
1 Tbsp Republic of Tea Stir Fry Tea Oil

Seasoning vegetables
2 tsp Republic of Tea Stir Fry Tea Oil
1 Tbsp peeled grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced

Vegetables:

1 medium red bell pepper, cored and sliced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 cups broccoli florets
1/4 cup low fat, reduced sodium chicken broth

1 recipe of Orange Hoisin Sauce
ORANGE HOISIN SAUCE
makes 3/4 cup
preparation time: 5 minutes

½ cup low fat reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp grated fresh orange zest
1 Tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch

1. Combine all ingredients except the arrowroot. Whisk until smooth. Add in the arrowroot and whisk again.

Garnish:

1/2 cup toasted almond slivers or cashews

Directions:

1. Prepare the chicken: Mix together the chicken, soy sauce , rice vinegar and arrowroot or cornstarch in a medium bowl. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add the 1 Tbsp of oil and add the chicken to the wok. Stir fry the chicken for about 4-5 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked through) and then remove the chicken from the wok and set aside

3. Prepare the seasoning vegetables. Add the 2 tsp oil to the wok. Add in the ginger and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds.

4. Add the red bell pepper strips and sliced celery. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add in the broccoli and stir fry for 1 minute. Add in the chicken broth, cover and steam for 3 minutes just until broccoli turns bright green and is crisp.   

5. Add in the ORANGE HOISIN SAUCE and cook for 2-5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Add back the chicken and coat the chicken with the sauce. Garnish with either almonds or cashews.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman (Mango & Tomato)

Ok, I’m itching for some summer-touched food. I’m probably not alone in my sentiments; most of the country has been blanketed by either record amounts of the white stuff , frigid temps or a combination of the dreaded both. But maybe you’re just not ready to step out onto the patio deck for some full out grilling? Why not bring the smoky taste of the BBQ inside?

I love to plank cook, but planks are really best for the actual outdoor grill. The next best thing are cooking with Cedar Wraps. Giving your food a nice undertone of aromatic wood flavor, cooking in Cedar Wraps ensures moist flavorful food in one neat little package. If you have ever cooked in parchment paper, then you know sealing food within a case makes for light healthful food. The difference here is with Cedar Wraps you add a dose of summer sunshine.

Simply add your seafood, fruits or vegetables to the wrap, tie with butcher’s twine and place the bundle into your oven. And when you can brave the outdoors again, add the wraps onto the grill using indirect (closed cover) cooking.

So treat yourself to warm weather cooking; I think you and the whole country deserves a little break just right about now.

Nature’s Cuisine Cedar Cooking Wraps are available at specialty cookware shops including Sur La Table http://www.surlatable.com/

CEDAR WRAPPED LEMON SHRIMP

8 Nature’s Cuisine Cedar Wraps
8 10″ butcher’s twine
1 1/2 pounds large peeled and deveined shrimp
3 small Roma tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
2 Tbsp minced red onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
grated zest of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the cedar wraps and the butchers twine in a bowl of hot water and soak for 10 minutes.

2. Remove the cedar wraps and twine from the water. Combine the shrimp, tomatoes red onion, olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Divide the mixture evenly among all cedar wraps placing the mixture on one half. Carefully roll the cedar wrap around the shrimp and secure with twine.

3. Place the rolls on a baking sheet and bake for about 7-9 minutes until shrimp is cooked through. Serve 2 rolls per person.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman from Mango & Tomato

Giving a bottle of wine is almost always appropriate for so many occasions, and why not put your sentiments to your recipient right on the bottle itself? BottleNecks are these lovely greeting cards that hang right from your bottle of cheer.

Choose from birthday greetings such as: “Is the wine glass half full or half empty? Who cares when you have the bottle. Enjoy a wonderful BIRTHDAY!” Or how about for that fun friend of yours with: “Who does not love wine, women and song remains a fool his whole life long (Johann Henrich Voss):  You’re no fool!”

So share your innermost feelings with your friends and family all in one nice package.

BottleNecks www.bottleneckkwinecards.com

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman of Mango & Tomato

When most people think about Italian cuisine, they think pasta. But in many of my Italian classes, nary a strand can be found. That’s because Italian cuisine is so much more than a plate of pasta; other starches need fair and equal time. Take farro for example. It’s one of the oldest unhybridizied forms of wheat and has been a part of the Italian diet for centuries. But when was the last time you had farro? Probably never. Ever see farro on most mainstream Italian menus? It’s not there, but it should be.

But even if you never see it served in a restaurant, it’s easy to prepare at home. So move over rigatoni, a new “old” kid is in town.

High in fiber with a good nutty and slightly crunchy texture, farro can be used in so many ways. Simply enjoy it with a tad of butter or olive oil drizzle and with a simple sprinkling of salt and pepper. Treat it as a breakfast grain (I do!). And I love it in soups to add body and texture as in the soup recipe below.

Farro is a snap to prepare, simply soak the grain for about 25 minutes in water to cover, drain. Bring to a boil n a pot with double the amount of water per cup of grain and simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes. Drain off the excess water. Now it’s ready for use any way you wish.

My favorite brand is vacuum sealed for extra freshness (a very good thing). You can find Rustichella D’ Abruzzo at specialty stores and Whole Foods Market. It’s imported by Manicaretti from Oakland California. www.manicaretti.com or www.rustichella.it

So get out of your pasta rut and enjoy something healthier and feel part of the wonderful ancient culture that is Italy!

MOROCCAN BEAN AND VEGETABLE SOUP WITH FARRO

Even though farro is Italian, it works beautifully with the exotic spices of Morocco. The texture is a perfect contrast to the smooth silky puree.

3 Tbsp olive oil
4 cups sliced onions
1 tsp minced garlic
½ Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
pinch cayenne
2 quarts chicken stock
3 cups peeled and thinly sliced carrots
2 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups sliced yellow squash
4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 cups canned chickpeas
1 cup diced canned tomatoes

2 cups cooked farro*

1. Heat the oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add in the cumin, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne and cook for 1 minute. Add in the broth, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and potatoes and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 1 hour.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice and cilantro. Transfer in batches to a food processor and puree until smooth, or use an immersion blender to puree the entire batch at once. . Return the pureed soup to a saucepan and add in the chickpeas, tomatoes and cooked farro. Simmer for 2 minutes. Serve topped with cilantro.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman from Mango & Tomato

And now a few words from Olga: if you have a food processor, it’ll be your best friend for this soup. I used my food processor to slice all the vegetables included in the soup. Not only was it incredibly easy and fast, but it also decreased the cooking time and let everything cook uniformly. This is a great soup to freeze, as you’ll have a lot of it!

Now that the 21st Winter Olympics have officially ended, we are hosting our own kitchen “games” featuring YOUR culinary talents!

We are calling the contest:  Fabulous Food Finds Kitchen Olympics.

3 easy rules to participate:

Seems like the coconut is making quite a splash these days. You’ll find so many products using the hard shelled tropical fruit to make more than coconut shreds. Recently I stumbled upon Coconut Vinegar and took a double take if this was for real.

Evidently, when the coconut tree is tapped, it produces a very nutritious sap that comes from the coconut blossoms. It’s high in vitamin and mineral content and is an excellent source of FOS, a prebiotic that promotes digestive health.

Coconut vinegar swaps out beautifully for apple cider vinegar and has a smoother taste. So we put it to the test in a coleslaw using a vinaigrette base instead of mayo. The product is called Coconut Secret, but I don’t think it will remain a secret for long!

Coconut Secret, www.coconutsecret.com and is available on your grocer’s shelf

COCONUT COLESLAW

Dressing:

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp Coconut vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup peanut oil
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Salad:

6 cups shredded green or purple cabbage or use a combination of both
2 red peppers, seeded, and diced***
½ cup thinly sliced scallions
1/3 cup golden raisins

Garnish:
2 Tbsp toasted unsweetened coconut shreds***

1. Whisk together the mustard, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl. Slowly in a very thin stream, add the peanut oil, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, red peppers, scallions and raisins. Add the dressing and toss well. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour to allow the flavors to develop.

3. Turn the coleslaw out onto a platter and garnish with coconut shreds.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman from Mango & Tomato

***And now  a few words from Olga: I decided to thinly slice red peppers instead of cubing them because I think it’s more esthetically pleasing, and also takes less time. Caution, be very careful when toasting coconut shreds: they burn easily. In fact, I burned my first batch. This is a delicious version of coleslaw, and would be great to take on a picnic once the weather gets warmer.

Even if you are not a slave to fashion, at least your wine could look sharp. Instead of the usual wine gift bag or just handing wine to your host (does anyone REALLY do that? C’mon folks: dress it up a little!), why not slip your next bottle into this sturdy, functional, yet cute and somewhat chic wine purse?

Made of 100% jute and jute/cotton blended fabrics, the bag comes in a variety of colors (with more colors debuting later this spring), so you can match them with your lipstick and shoes (no, just kidding)! For now, content yourself with lovely white or earthy natural.

Just don’t let your wine bag show you up, rise to your next occasion!

www.epicgifts.com
Available at the Butchers Block, King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman from Mango & Tomato

Leave it to Mom. My mom, a self professed peanut butter addict knew too much of a good thing is well… not a good thing (I think all mothers have a sixth sense about that one!). Even with her slender figure and tiny frame, she worried that her practically everyday peanut butter habit was adding far too much fat to her diet. Although not saturated, the fat from peanut butter ends up being in double digit grams, so she knew she had to find an alternative.

Several years ago she discovered a product called Better’N Peanut Butter, a much lower in fat and sodium real peanut butter spread. With only 2 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons versus the 16 grams in full fat peanut butter, she could happily and with less guilt enjoy her daily peanut butter fix once more.

Then, very recently I discovered that the same product comes in a Chocolate Better’N Peanut Butter version and put it to the test for a decadent chocolate peanut butter cookie. I don’t know who’s hand will be in the cookie jar more–hers or mine!

Chocolate Better’N Peanut Butter is available on your grocer’s shelf or at betternpeanutbutter.com

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp butter ***
1/3 cup Chocolate BetterN’Peanut Butter spread
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla (Mexican or Madagascar)
1 egg
3 Tbsp water
1 3/4 cup unbleached (preferably organic) all purpose flour***
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.***

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugars with the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add in the vanilla, egg and water and mix well.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture.

4. Shape the batter into 1 inch balls and place on the prepared pans , leaving 2 inches between the cookies. Using a fork that has been dipped in water, flatten the cookies. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes just until cookies are set. 

5. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 2 minutes. Remove the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes 30.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman of Mango & Tomato

***And now a few words from Olga: A few helpful hints: 1) Have your butter at room temperature 2) You might need more flour 3) I would recommend you use parchment paper: my cookies got slightly stuck to the cookie sheet. Also, I was afraid the cookies will be overly sweet, but they had a perfect amount of sugar, especially when eaten with a cold glass of milk. Two of my friends who received these cookies really enjoyed them.

I love colorful foods. I also love healthy foods. And sometimes these two concepts are like oil and water; they don’t always match up. Take grains for example. Healthy? Yes. Pretty? I wouldn’t necessarily agree on that one. Think about it: brown rice: brown, barley: light brown, wheat berries: dark brown–brown, brown, brown! And my favorite quinoa: brown with a touch of a yellow hue, but still pretty dull in color. Till now.

Although on the market for awhile, I’m first coming around to experimenting with the lovely, the beautiful red quinoa. Alter Eco Fair Trade produces a lovely red quinoa that will end the drabs.

Cooking up just like regular quinoa, so if you are already a quinoa cook, there is nothing new to learn. But it’s a whole lot easier on the eyes!

This particular company I am fond of because they are a team of trade visionaries; 1500 farmers benefit from the production of this product.

www.altereco.com or on your grocer’s shelf

RED QUINOA SALAD

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small yellow pepper diced
1 celery stalk, diced***
2 scallions, minced

Dressing

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 tsp minced fresh chives
3 Tbsp olive oil
kosher or sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

½ cup roasted unsalted cashews

1. Rinse the dry quinoa in a fine sieve under running water for 1 minute. Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Slowly add the quinoa and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. When all the water is absorbed and you can see steam holes on the surface of the quinoa, remove the pot from the stove. Add the quinoa to a bowl and let cool for about ½ hour.

2. Add the carrots red and yellow peppers, celery and scallions to the bowl with the quinoa.

3. Prepare the dressing: Whisk the lemon juice, rice vinegar garlic and chives. Slowly in a stream whisk in the oil, whisking constantly until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the dressing to the quinoa salad and toss. Taste for seasoning. Add the cashews and toss again.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman

***And now a few words from Olga: to save yourself time, start by cooking the quinoa. While quinoa is cooking, chop your vegetables. I’m not a huge fan of celery, so I used a peeled and cubed cucumber instead. This salad is great for leftovers (just don’t add all the nuts at once), and would be good alternative for your summer picnic (that is when summer is finally here). Feel free to add other vegetables (i.e. tomatoes) and experiment with herbs: basil, parsley, cilantro.

There are many ways to extend the shelf life of your spices: tightly close the jars, keep away from air and light, use them up quickly, and of course purchase the smallest amount you can. Well, the last one is tricky because no matter how hard we try, even if we can find a small jar of spices or herbs, we invariably still do not go through them quickly enough to prevent some loss of flavor. Sometimes we buy only that spice or herb for a particular recipe, never to come around to it again for a long, long time. And let’s not forget storage space. All those jars get clumsy and bulky on our shelves and in our drawers.

So that’s why Smart Spice was invented. Convenient neat little packets of pre-measured spices and herbs. Just tear open the packet and use the 1 teaspoon of measured aromatic . The packets seal out all the elements, solve your storage dilemma, and because so many recipe call for only 1 teaspoon, all the spice is used. And the spices are all organic to boot.

Your food is only as flavorful as the potency of your spices, so keeping them in top notch form is only a packet away.

Smart-Spice.com and on your grocer’s shelf

Curry powder isn’t a spice we use everyday, so these packets are perfect for the occasional indulgence in this far East flavor. Enjoy the perfumed slightly peppery flavor of curry in this fluffy rice pilaf.

CURRIED BROWN RICE PILAF WITH PISTACHIOS AND CHERRIES
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 package (1 tsp) Smart spice Curry Powder
1 ½ cups rinsed long grain brown rice
3 cups low fat, reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup minced parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and saute for about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add in the curry powder and dry brown rice and saute for 3 minutes.

2. Add the chicken broth to the rice mixture. Bring the rice to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes until tender.
3. Meanwhile, toast the pistachio nuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat. Shake the pan frequently until the nuts are fragrant.
4. Add the nuts and cherries to the brown rice and mix. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh parsley.

All photographs courtesy of Olga Berman (Sorry if the photos are a bit dark: I made the dish at 10 pm last night, so there was no natural light.)