Rye Cooks

The Go-Pro

In our effort to have our shows air in a timely manner, we have zipped through most of the segments at warp(ed) speed, only to be caught out by this unpredictable Northeast weather!

What does weather have to do with producing a cooking show, you may ask, scratching your head, rubbing chin stubble, or maybe pinching that space between your eybrows, all useful gestures when you are trying to get the hang of something mysterious.

Well, folks, the Go-Pro has the answers!  Did you catch the last show with the pasta being dropped into the pot?   The waterproof camera is at the bottom, recording the splash.  Now Suzy suggests we get two dozen helium balloons and lift the camera (said Go-Pro) into the air and let it take ariel shots of Rye. Pretty awesome idea, right?  However, we go from no wind at all in stifling heat that to crazy windy days in which the camera might be lifted right into Greenwich or something, which would be just totally wrong for us.

And hey, we have to keep it in Rye because Real Housewives of Westchester County is recruiting.  Do you think for one minute that the producers want to know what most real housewives are doing all day?  Cause I'm pretty sure we can document some major carpooling, big negotiations at June and Ho over the freshest produce, and some out and out catfighting between mothers and daughters at Lester's as to how many string bikinis are really needed for two weeks at sleepaway camp.  

We'll keep you posted!

Dinner on the Cheap

We were thinking of budget dinners to fit into our next show which is about being creative while spending less. Ramen noodles are such a staple for so many households, those with young children, those in college, those in a first apartment while coming home late from that demanding, yet entry level, job.  Packaged ramen are kind of evil and kind of magical at the same time.   

A couple of tips were found on the internet. The noodles are apparently pre-fried, so an interesting suggestion was to set two pots to boiling at the same time.  Boil the noodles in the first pot for two minutes, then drain and finish the final one minute in the other pot.  This way you've sent some of the fat right down the drain.  

Another thing I did was to use two packets of the flavoring for four noodle servings.  Then I added a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil.   Leftover chicken and some chinese mushrooms gave it some much needed protein and a bit of sophistication.  

We did this dish at Suzy's house for the camera and we added some more colorful frozen vegetables.  Trader Joe's has a mix of shredded carrots and broccoli which is a nice update from those tiny, perfect squares of carrots and peas, right?  

This dinner was made from one of the cheapest food on earth (ramen noodles), leftover chicken and a freezer stable (the veggies).  I was happy to have the mushrooms for diversity.

See what lurks in your cupboards.  You do usually have a dinner in the house, you just have to check all the nooks and crannies for the ingredients.

What's your favorite go-to?

Impressed? why yes!

We are so on-target now!  The fourth show is about to air this Friday, the one about fresh spring foods and getting into shape.  And it is still spring!!  

It features lots of local talent so if you live in Rye and want to see it on the big screen, tune in to channel 76 (or 33) on Fridays and Saturdays at 9am, 12am, 3pm and 6pm.  

On top of that, we are already two segments into our next show.  The theme here is "thrifty"; we visited the Rye Presbyterian Church Thrift shop today, which donates thousands of dollars to charities in lower Westchester.   

We are featuring a local favorite, homemade doughnuts from Jerry's Post Road Market, baked into individual ramekins of Banana Foster.  These goodies were topped with a mixture of Goya mango nectar and dulce de leche in an unbelievable flavor combination, all orchestrated by Stephanie Hammer, caterer and personal chef of Rye.  It was a really fun shoot and we are so excited to be stepping up to this faster pace.  

There is serious thought to a fishing segment.  What could be thriftier than catching your own dinner?  Stay tuned, friends!

 

Crunch Time

Yeesss!  We finally finished the third show and we are on air on the public access channel in Rye.  But you can only see us on the big screen if you live in town, so use the link below if you want to take a peek.

 http://ryeny.swagit.com/play/03162011-157/0/  

The theme was around getting ready for a big night out, the Rye TV awards ceremony was held that night.  We had a bit of primping to do, and of course, dinner still had to get on the table.   

I promised to post the recipes we used on the episode so here they are:

Quick and Easy Waffles...........by Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

Canola oil for brushing on waffle iron (I use Pam)

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, but I put it in)

Brush the waffle iron with oil, or use Pam and preheat it. Combine the dry ingredients.  Mix together the milk and eggs. Stir in the butter and the vanilla.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3-5 minutes.  Serve immediately or keep warm for a few minutes in a low oven.

 

Then we made pot pie, as it was easy to make early in the day, for re-heating later. This recipe came from the back of the box of Pillsbury pie crust.  I will post that next time, because even I can see this is long enough for now.  More importantly, click on the link and tell us what you think!

 

 

Waffling

With renewed energy, we have been working hard to bring you the third episode of Rye Cooks, on Rye's public access channel (that's either 76 on cable or 33 if you have Verizon). You'll also be able to watch on your computer, I'll provide the link and hopefully you will be able to just click on that tv icon on the right hand corner.

When we first realized that we have been at this for a year, we were a bit disconcerted.  Did we think we would have had 12 shows in 12 months? We had so very many ideas and tons of forward momentum.  It would seem that (almost) 3 shows does not really meet our goals.  But there was so much more to this than we could have imagined.

Our skill set has grown exponentially in the past year.  Suzy learned all kinds of technical applications, and I have learned that being engaging is more important than getting all your ingredients right the first time.

Luckily, being human and imperfect is what is I am good at. There are so many other blogs and tv shows that will tell you how to get everything just right. On professional television, they do lots of takes, they have staff to clean up spills, and they have big teleprompters that the hosts read from.  I know, because I went to see both Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart during the past year.  

They also have people who run out with little brushes to fix skin imperfections that have cropped up during the breaks(Martha), and when something doesn't work, they do it again, keeping the studio audience clapping just like we never saw the bit just a minute ago (that's more Rachael). Being part of those studio audiences would have been fun for me anyway, but checking out how they get it done it made it much more interesting.

We have interviewed lots of people around Rye, even if we haven't used any of that information on the show, it has been valuable.  We've talked with the man in charge of the food service in all the Rye City Schools. We spent time with the woman in charge of education at the Rye Historical society and had a fascinating conversation about cooking over an open hearth. For a crowd. We've met fabulous people at RyeTV and the Rye Middle school, took part in an awards ceremony and earned our very own Margie, and yes, there were other entries.

The title of this post does not refer to any lack of dedication to giving you an entertaining look at food and people of Rye, it refers to the fact that we made waffles a while back for a cooking segment to be used in our upcoming show, the audio was poor, so we did it all over again. This time it worked out really well and hopefully you will see it soon on Episode 3!

 

 

True Believer

Today was an extraordinary day, the kind that made me rethink previously held beliefs on commercialism, retailing and whether or not things happen by accident. 

I have been collecting gently used backpacks for an organization called the Aspire.Inspire Foundation. This began when I went to hack my way through my basement for a little pre-season cleaning.  

We had many backpacks collecting dust down there.  Sure, some had sentimental value, there was the bright blue one that I took with us to Disney, big enough to fit my Unofficial Guide to Disney, my clipboard with each day's itinerary on it, my notations on the best places to eat in Epcot and maps highlighted with the restrooms in each "land".  My daughter's bright orange one personalized with her travel soccer number made me smile.  But really, they had to go.  

A few minutes of google-time revealed many organizations and I chose Aspire.Inspire after a couple of emails back and forth.  I put a plastic bin in the lobby of the local elementary school and sent a request through the school's newsletter.  There, that's done.

Today, I was in Nordstoms, exchanging a pair of Uggs when I checked out the sale table in the tween section. Three pink and purple Roxy backpacks sat regally, marked down from $32.00 to $19.99.  I asked the salesgirl if they could be marked down again and I would buy all three.

She price checked one first and her eyes widened. What?? They were not supposed to sell them now, they were meant for The Rack (discounted Nordstroms) but apparently they didn't get out in time.  They were a penny apiece.   

Looking this gift horse directly in the mouth, I went back over to the table and grabbed 10 adorable satchel type bags and asked her to price check. Same!!  I had tears in my eyes, I was so happy for this luck.  Those were not backpacks, but surely needy kids could use them similarly.  I felt that Suzy was going to jump out any minute with her video camera.

I spent 13 cents and did not even get mad when the evil machine used to pay for parking rejected my $5 bill three times and the third time I pulled it out in ripped in two.  

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter

Tomorrow we have a big shoot.  I am going to do a "healthy kids" cooking demo for Lee Sandford's Boot Camp by the Beach. She runs a "fun but hard" workout outdoors down at Rye Town Park.  A devoted following attends all through the year, in the dead of winter and the heat of summer.  

I am betting these women already know a thing or two about healthy eating, as I just can't see doing all that working out and following up with a nice big bowl of Ben & Jerry's. Sometimes even the kids of food conscious parents won't eat anything but chicken nuggets and french fries, so I am doing homemade chicken strips using a mix of panko and Italian breadcrumbs. Panko is awesome for its crunch, but it needs a bit of seasoning from 4C or Progresso.

Then, oven baked sweet potato fries.  I learned a little trick with potato starch that will keep the sweet potato fries crisp, like regular french fries.  

I have two soups that are emergency meals for moms.  When the day is going to be filled with obligations, meetings, pick ups and drop offs, it is nice to know that there is something delicious and healthy at the ready. Otherwise, at least for me, that pint of ice cream is starting to look like lunch.

One soup is a black bean and choirzo, the other white bean and artichoke. Both are really easy, but neither looks pretty on film so we may have to shoot them from a respectable distance.

I wanted a little something for dessert and decided to make this candy that mimics Reese's Pieces.  All you have to do is melt some chocolate, pour into cupcake holders, freeze for 10 minutes, make a little mix of peanut butter, butter and honey, fill a plastic bag, snip the end to pipe this concoction into the chocolate cups, freeze for 10 minutes, follow up with more melted chocolate to cover the now-frozen peanut buttery mixture.  

I totally could have banged out a dozen of Rachel Ray's caramel apple muffins, and handed out some of the actual Reese's Pieces clogging up my basement refrigerator, waiting for Halloween.  

You know how sometimes you realize, way too late, that you are putting too much effort into the WRONG thing?

   

 

 

Leaving it All Behind

We spent 9 days sailing in the British Virgin Islands, in a party of four families, split between two 50' catamarans and no one but ourselves to depend on, in the face of high wind, rolling waves, ripped jibs, broken down generators and so forth.

Luckily, the worst thing we enountered was sour milk delivery, a bit too much rain and not quite enough chocolate on the boats to keep everyone happy. 

There were so many great moments, and great meals to talk about, but I'll get to that. For now, I want to examine our process of leaving the USA.  Twelve days before we were set to fly, we checked our passports, and yes, our children's passports were expired. Note: Not by much.

I contacted the official agency, since we were within 14 days of flight, we were given an appointment for the office in Norwalk, CT.  This was to be a family event, all minors must appear in person, with both parents, or offer up a notorized statement that the non-appearing parent gives permission for the kids to get passports for international travel.

We were given a 10:30 appointment and it turns out that almost all of the other people on line were also given a 10:30.  Several people groaned and mentioned how long they were already standing in line.  Most of us got there early, as if we could possibly make up for the idiocy of letting our passports lapse by being extra early at the federal office.

It did occur to me that it was truly a wonderful civil gift, this whole building and all the employees in it were there to help us, the laggards, get on a plane and go on vacation.  

When we were called up, the woman was very nice to the kids.  They each had to raise their right hand and swear that the (unflattering) 2 X 2 photo is a current likeness of each of them and then sign full names on to the forms.  It actually felt like a special, ceremonial right of passage.  Sending it all in through the post office may be something of a disappointment, 5 years from now, when these shiny passports will expire.

 

Rye Cooks in This Issue of Rye Magazine

Rye Magazine cover, top left; and now we live in three media! ©Rye Magazine

Paula and I joke that, before a single episode of "Rye Cooks" aired, we had a magazine article about us, a blog, and even an award nomination (we haven't figured out what the Margies are all about -- it may have something to do with public access TV -- but if we are the only ones nominated, there is the remote possibility we will sweep them).

So here is the magazine article that appears in the latest issue of Rye Magazine, that glossy gift from the Weston Magazine Group that shows up occasionally in Rye mailboxes and is packed with an eclectic mixture of good journalism, creative writing, and photography.

The article is Paula's story of how we went from being a good neighbors to this.

In the meantime, production of episode two continues.  At our usual pace.

Back of the Box

 

One thing that stops people from cooking is the complexity of many recipes.  We salivate over the photos in the cooking magazines but turn to the actual recipe and the love is gone. I've seen many a SALAD recipe with 10 ingredients or more, then you have to slog through the homemade dressing part. 

I have a couple of things to say about this.  Sometimes reading through the recipe can calm you down when you realize that they individually call for; oregano, thyme, garlic powder, bay leaf, etc.  What you are going to do now is take out that jar of "Italian seasoning" and use that. 

Also handy is Goya Adobo powder. It is salt, granulated garlic, oregano, turmeric and one (but just one) unpronouncable: tricalcium phosphate.  The label helpfully says it prevents caking, I am ok with that.  Also, anything in a Goya container is going to be a lot cheaper than any thing marked McCormick's.  Just sayin, so take a closer look at that ethnic aisle.

Some of the best recipes are the ones on the back of the boxes of common grocery items. Tonight we had chicken pot pie for dinner.  This recipe is on the back of the Pillsbury Pie Crust box.  It calls mainly for chicken, broth and milk.

Get in the habit of freezing extra chicken you have from another meal.  That last chicken breast no one wanted?  Shred it or cut into little pieces, use a ziplock and freeze.  Boo hoo, no one likes the dark meat on the bone that so inconveniently comes with the rotisserie chicken from Costco?  Freeze it, they will never recognize it again. Soon you will have a nice little stockpile.  The meat I used was left over from the cornish game hens we made for future use on our upcoming show.  The recipe calls for sauteing onions, but I substitute small carrot pieces and my family loves me a little bit more.