Who’s Cooking at Tante Marie’s?

It is fantastic that cooking and talking about food is so popular now! If you want to join the fun, look for our schedule on www.tantemarie.com.

With the cooking shows and the food magazines concentrating this January on low-fat and low-cal cooking after the holidays, I believe we should be grateful that we have enough to eat. This weekend I prepared three dishes using leftover bread for The Real Deal (Sundays at 5 p.m. on KPIX). The focus of the show was on FOOD RUNNERS, a volunteer organization started 20 years ago to pick up excess food from businesses in San Francisco and deliver it to neighborhood feeding programs. Click on these links for Savory Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Herbs, Grilled Breast of Chicken Vivande Style, Tuscan Bread Pudding with Olive Oil and Rosemary

Most of us live in a world where we think we are too busy to cook. The truth is that with a little thinking ahead, we can save time and money by making simple meals at home. What I recommend is keeping in the cupboard, such things as a box of pasta, a bag of polenta, a can of tomatoes, a can of cannelini beans, and a container of chicken stock. I also recommend keeping in the refrigerator a dozen eggs, a hunk of Gruyere or Parmesan cheese, a pound of bacon, and a package of sausages. If you go to a local farmers market or a good supermarket, you can keep seasonal vegetables such as butternut squash, red Russian kale, and fresh lettuce. And, occasionally you can pick up a piece of fish, a chicken, or some pork chops. This way, if you have an evening at home, you can cook with what is on hand. Look over the Recipe Collection www.tantemarie.com and you will find many recipes using the simple and accessible ingredients listed above.

Have fun cooking!

To find out more about Cooking Classes, Courses and Parties, call 415.788.6699.