Some of the doomsday theories are interesting. Like, the world is going to hell in hand basket and we are just a generation away from The Armageddon. You should buy gold.

Some of the theories just happen to have a layer of truth. You see, there are aspects of civilization that really are being lost. Here’s an example. Over eight thousand years of human progress in food preservation has been seriously compromised in just two generations. The culprits? Freezers. Megamarts. And the short attention span created by those electronic gadgets we have become addicted to. You know, if it’s important, you can do it in 140 characters or less on Twitter.

How did our city life ever get started? People stopped being hunters and gatherers. They put down roots, figuratively. By being able to grow food, and preserve it, there was a quantum change in human life.

Preserving food. If you grew up in the 50’s or even into the 60’s, you may remember a mom who during the late spring and summer and fall was constantly in the kitchen “putting up” food for the rest of the year. Jams and vegetables went flying into glass jars. Or metal cans. I remember a canning coop in Portland, Oregon, where you could take beans and carrots and “professionally” process them into stark metal cans.

When was the last time you preserved anything? Canned anything? Have you ever, ever done it?

See, it’s almost a lost art.

Except, it’s coming back. Over the past few years there has been a bit of a renaissance. Maybe it’s the recession. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s people reading the labels on the back of the jars and seeing all the “other stuff” that comes from commercial food. Look at The Joy of Pickling, the source of this recipe, for evidence that canning can be cool.

If you preserve it yourself, you control everything. You control flavor and color. The nuance of the spices. The amount of salt. The size of the onions or mint or pepper chunks that float in the jar.

And now, the canning renaissance has introduced new techniques, too. Instead of having to sterilize those glass jar and “process” the filled jars with boiling water — which does affect flavor and color — there are new and very much better ways to save your fresh food.

This recipe is for a freezer pickle. You don’t boil the jars before filling. Or after. You just use clean jars and freeze the pickles. Then thaw, taste, and wipe the tears from your eyes.

Simply put: these pickles are as good as anything you have ever had. I’m too modest to call them “the best” but, secretly, they are.

When we made these, Suzen and I went into our garden, picked fresh cucumbers and mint and headed to the kitchen. From vine to jar was just a few hours. The combination of fresh produce and quick techniques is unbeatable.

Lime-Mint Freezer Pickle

Yield: 4 pints

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ pounds pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
• 3 tablespoons pickling salt
• ½ cup sliced onion
• 1 small sweet ripe pepper, such as bell or pimiento, chopped
• Grated zest of 1 lime
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup minced fresh mint leaves
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups distilled white vinegar

Preparation:

In a large bowl, toss the cucumber slices with the slat. Let the cucumbers stand at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, and then drain them.

In another bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture over the cucumbers and stir well. Refrigerate the mixture for 8 to 10 hours.

Pack the cucumbers and liquid in freezer bags or rigid containers and freeze the containers.

Thaw the pickles for about 8 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Source: The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedric

Mint sauce? Oh, yes, that’s obligatory for lamb. You probably have a green bottle of mint jelly sitting on a back shelf of the fridge. You should check that expiration date. If the first digit of the year is a “1” then you need rubber gloves.

This recipe does not need mint sauce. It does use a sauce, because lamb has a flavor that begs for the completeness that only a distinctive sauce can provide. Here the sauce is a Black Currant BBQ Sauce, one that you’ll love eating all by itself.

This is another recipe from Hudson Valley Mediterranean, a serious cookbook from Gigi restaurant in Rhinebeck, New York. These lamb chops are rich in flavor and aroma. Even a dedicated vegetarian is going to be tempted.

If you cannot find fresh black currants, then a small jar of currant jab will provide the berry power you need. If you do use jam, you may want to ease back on the sugar below. Do some taste testing as your create the sauce.

Lamb Chops with Black Currant BBQ Sauce

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the Black Currant BBQ Sauce:

• 1 pint fresh black currants
• ¼ cup raisins
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• ¼ cup finely diced shallots
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt

For the Lamb Chops:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic clove, minced
• 8 loin lamb chops (2 to 3 ounces each after trimming)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

For the BBQ sauce, combine the currants, raisins, ½ cup water, brown sugar, ketchup, rice vinegar, shallots, mustard, and cayenne pepper in a medium saucepan, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor, and puree until smooth. Strain the sauce though a fine mesh strainer into a blow, using a rubber spatula to push as much sauce as possible through the mesh. Season the sauce with salt to taste.

T prepare the lamb, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic in a small bowl.  Brush the mixture over the surface of the chops. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a medium-hot grill.

Season the chops with salt and pepper, and place them on the hot grill. Cook for 1 ½ minutes on each side. Then slather on the BBQ sauce and cook for another minutes per side for medium-rare, or to the desire doneness. Serve immediately with sauce on the side.

Source: Hudson Valley Mediterranean by Laura Pensiero

Not a good start. And as a consequence, I’ve never been an olive fan. I will occasionally try to “reboot” olive-wise but it always leave me wincing. Too often I find the texture to be pasty or the flavor assaulting to my mouth.

Suzen, of course, loves them. Watch her walk by the olive counter at Whole Foods. You may need a slow motion camera but there it is: a swift hand dips into a tub and the evidence is instantly devoured. I turn away in shame.

She’s working on me. Trying to convert me. And she knows my weaknesses: herbs, chiles, and wine. So this weekend she prepared these marinated olives that look and taste phenomenally. I have to admit that I really did eat more than one.

This recipe is from Gigi restaurant in Rhinebeck, New York. Rhinebeck is truly described as a village, a lovely setting of tall, old trees and distinguished homes. During the summer, there is a Sunday farmers’ market at Rhinebeck that rivals any you have seen. You can pay a visit to the market and then drift over a couple of blocks to brunch at Gigi.

If you can’t get to Rhinebeck, then you are still in luck. The striking recipes from Gigi are now available in the delicious cookbook Hudson Valley Mediterranean. The recipes are distinctive, truly inspired by the Mediterranean, and thoroughly tested. You can browse the book, pick any recipe, and be confident that you’ll soon have an exceptional dish on your table.

Even if you are not an olive-lover, these morsels are worth a test and taste.

Gigi Marinated Olives

Yield: 1 quart

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ pounds mixed olives (any combination of picholine, Kalamata, Cerignola, Gaeta or Nicoise)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 2 small by leaves
• 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
• 3 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
• Peel from ½ lemon, cut into thin strips
• Peel from ½ lime, cut into thin strips
• Peel from ½ orange, cut into thin strips
• 2 cups medium to full-bodies red wine, preferably with some spice (such as Zinfadel or Primitivo)
• 1 tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups olive oil

Preparation:

Rinse the olives for several minutes under cold running water to remove the salt or brine. Set them aside in a storage container with a lid.

In a large nonreactive pot, combine all the ingredients except the olives and olive oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the wine is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Add the cooled marinade and the olive oil to the container of olives. Stir gently to blend. Let the olives marinate, covered and refrigerated, for 2 days before serving. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Source: Hudson Valley Mediterranean by Laura Pensiero

If you have dips with inherently strong flavors — say one of those onion dips or blue cheese — then what will appeal to your guests is something smooth and subtle. Something that makes people ask, “What is this?”

I had a dip like that. I last made it 25 years ago. I went to the cookbook I know, I know, it is in. I can’t find it. I’ve been through the book a dozen times until my blood pressure began to go off scale. I don’t know where the damn recipe is, or what it was called, or exactly what was in it.

I do know it was unhealthy. The last time I made it was for Suzen’s dad, who was visiting us.

“What the hell are you doing? Trying to kill him? He can’t eat that.” Suzen expressed an opinion. I shied away from ever doing it again. Clearly there was cheese involved.

And now it’s lost.

But something was found. For in this same lovely cookbook, published by the Junior Service League of McAllen, Texas in 1981, there is this very easy artichoke heart dip that I just made a pound of. I served it to 30 people on Saturday starting at 6PM. By 8PM, it was gone. All of it. And, yes, people did ask what it was.

Easy to make, fun to eat, and respectfully healthy. Sort of.

The original recipe ingredients and preparation are given below, followed by some changes I made. This is another recipe you have total freedom to experiment with.

I’m still looking for the unhealthy one.

Subtle and Smooth Artichoke Dip

Yield: about 1 pound or two hours worth of dip

Ingredients:

• 1 pound canned artichoke hearts [get 2 14 ounce cans, drain them, and you’ll have 1 pound of hearts]
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 6 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1 tablespoon onion
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 or 4 slices of bacon, fried crisp, and chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Corn chips

Preparation:

Chop the artichoke hearts to pulp in a blender. Add the softened cream cheese to the mayonnaise and mix until smooth. Add to the rest of ingredients. Chill. Serve with corn chips.

Brian Changes and Extension:

I had some guests who are not fond of mayonnaise, so I used 8 ounces of cream cheese instead. I don’t know why people say to use the juice of ½ lemon. What am I going to do with the other half? Would using it spoil the recipe? This is a dip so the recipe is “robust.” Use the whole lemon.

Source: La Pinata by the Junior Service League of McAllen Texas

Or there is the perfectly shaped cookie, the ones you buy at the market, the ones that are too perfectly round. The dough slopes down to the edge of the exact circle that the dough was stamped out. It’s automated and that takes perfection to an artificial level,

How about round, naturally perfect and, on top of it all, delicious chocolate chip cookies?

In Tribeca, a couple of blocks from me, there was a lighting store. The easy place to go for bulbs and switches and all the little things you need when your building was built in 1860. It’s tough to find some of those missing parts. The lighting store closed a couple of years ago and I regretted seeing it depart. I asked them in their last week what was going into that space. “Maybe some kind of bakery,” they said.

I hid my delight. I held my hopes. I was rewarded. The light bulbs may be gone, but the cupcakes are here, and the cookies. And the frosting shooters, although I have told Suzen that I have never, ever eaten one of those.

Tribeca Treats is at 94 Reade Street, just west of Church and before West Broadway. It’s the best bakery in Tribeca. And the owner, Rachel Thebault, is about to publish her new book: Sweet Chic. Here’s her very good chocolate chip recipe that lets you form perfect circles. How? Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, chill for an hour. The chilled dough works wonderfully, nicely rolling into balls that gracefully warm and flatten in the oven. Using mini chocolate chips and no nuts means that dough can uniformly flow into those pretty bites you crave. The proportions of ingredients here give you a crisp cookie. Ones you can dunk in milk or just snap away at.

Sweet Chic will be published on October 26, 2010. I know the quality of Tribeca Treats and I’m sure you will love every recipe in the book. I just may have my first official frosting shooter.

Sweet Chick Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
• ⅓ cup granulate sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¾ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Sift the flour, baking soda and slat into a mixing bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter on the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at high speed until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the sugars, crumbling the brown sugar with your hands as you add it to get rid of any lumps. Mix on medium =-high speed until smooch, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through mixing to ensure that the butter and sugar well mixed.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined Again, scrape down the sides and bottom of the blow to make sure that the ingredients are incorporated.

Add approximately half the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining flour and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that the flour is fully incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips and mix just until combined, about 10 seconds. Remove the dough from the blow, press it into a flat mound and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it chill fin the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and scoop or roil it into balls about 1 tablespoon in size. At this point, the cookie dough can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 1 month (separate layers of dough balls with waxed paper).

Place the balls of dough about 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans once halfway through, until the edges of the cookies are golden born. Remove the cookies from the oven, let them cool slight, then transfer them a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Or serve warm

Keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Source: Sweet Chic by Rachel Thebault