Fish in Parchment Paper (en Papillote)
Grilled fish is one of our favorite summer dinners, but not all fish do well cooked over a dry heat. Some fish do better poached or steamed. One way to prepare them is by cooking fish in parchment paper, or…
Basil Tom Collins Cocktail – a low-cal summer cocktail
Getting dressed for the pool last weekend convinced me that it was time to go back on a diet. What a drag. When I'm watching my weight, giving up alcohol is one of the first things I have to do.…
Shirred Duck Eggs with Celery Cream
Shirred eggs... as in, eggs cooked gently in an oven inside ramekins placed in a water bath. Shirred duck eggs... as in, I had the chance to buy a half dozen duck eggs from my CSA last week. Shirred duck…
Pork Tamales with Chile Verde Sauce
Making pork tamales is a multi-day process, so it really lends itself to a weekend kitchen project. It's not hard, but it does take a lot of time. The first day, I marinated my pork roast. The second day, I actually roasted the pork all day. The third day, I actually assembled and made my tamales, including soaking my corn husks and making my masa.
Roasted Okra (and grilled okra) – a Healthy Alternative
Forget Red State vs. Blue State. Okra divides this country as surely as any October college football rivalry. You either "get" okra, or you don't. And if you live outside of the South, you probably just don't get it. I know.…
Preserved Lemons for a taste of North Africa
One of my favorite local bakeries, Alon's, makes one of my all-time favorite sandwiches - the Tunisian Spicy Tuna. It is a combination of quality canned tuna, potato, hard-boiled egg, capers, harissa sauce and, an unusual ingredient, preserved lemon. If you…
Making Cracklin Cornbread
When I finished my lard rendering project, I was left with about 4 cups of cracklins. Cracklins (or cracklings) are crispy bits of fried pork fat. They are pretty much just like the crispy ends of a bacon strip. Not…
Making Lemon Chess Pie – a Southern traditional recipe
Do people in other parts of the country make chess pie? Even though I'm not from the Deep South, I've eaten chess pie my whole life. It's hard to imagine someone not knowing about it. Brought over from England, the…
Making Pie Crust with Lard
One thing I love to do is make pies, including my own pie crust. A homemade pie crust has a flavor and texture so superior to a store-bought crust and is so easy to make, that I never even think of buying one. If you have cold butter (and/or lard), flour, salt and sugar, you can have a pie crust dough ready to put in the refrigerator in 10 minutes.
Stuffed Chard Leaves
When I opened up my first CSA box* of the season last week, the first thing that I saw was a bundle of colorful Rainbow Chard sitting on top. Besides being so vibrantly beautiful, they were big. Big enough to…