On these cooler, shorter days, it’s hard to turn down a bowl of soup. It’s my ultimate comfort food; I eat it when I am sick, and I eat it when I am well. Soup is a canvas upon which to add, well, just about anything. It can be light and brothy, or thick and chock-full of meat and veggies. It can be a meal in itself, calming the mind, and warming the belly. Now that we are firmly into fall, let’s look to the bounty this season provides. Butternut squash and apples are two of the best that this…
Author: emma
When you hear the name Miles Davis, inevitably you think of jazz. His mournful trumpet tone changed the way we listened to music, and his fusing other influences into his own sound revolutionized the industry. But what you most likely didn’t know is that Davis was a self-taught cook, viewing recipe creation much in the same way as music: something beautiful coming about by improvising. But above all it took practice upon practice to come up with some of the most iconic jazz standards AND new recipes. In his own autobiography, Davis discusses his foray into cooking, and as MentalFloss…
Are you looking for something different for dinner on these cooler nights? Something that your kids will love and your partner won’t balk at? Consider the humble baked potato made fabulous by a topping bar that you curate yourself. Baked potatoes are just about the perfect meal, as they are a vehicle for all sorts of flavors and textures. If you look inside your fridge right now I’ll bet you have leftovers in little containers. Perhaps ground meat that didn’t make it into tacos. Marinara sauce that was left out of spaghetti. A mishmash of vegetables that with a little…
I am always on the lookout for good meatless dishes, something to throw into the culinary repertoire when I have overdone beef, pork and chicken, even salmon. Protein is important to good health, but we in the Western world consume far too much meat, so it is important to find a balance, and a tasty one to boot. Fritters are a fun way to incorporate more vegetables into one’s diet. I’ve used zucchini in fritters before, combining the shredded courgette with carrot, sometimes even corn, for a crisp and savory treat that doesn’t bloat the belly. But I’ve never used…
Fried chicken is a universal crowd pleaser. Crispy skins and juicy middles, it makes both kids and adults happy, and is a great go-to option when feeding finicky eaters. Wings, drumsticks, breasts, fingers, nuggets – fried chicken comes in many forms. I have been experimenting with boneless chicken lately, trying to find a way to keep the meat from drying out, while enhancing its flavor. And I have found it! Chicken cutlets, pounded thin, dipped in an eggy mayo, then rolled around in toasted panko breadcrumbs spiked with mustard and garlic powders, and finely grated Parmesan, do the trick. The…
If you’re like me, you squeeze out every last bit of summer. And what better way to do that than with food! Tomatoes are at their peak right now and you may have seen fat, multi-colored, varieties just waiting to burst. Heirloom tomatoes seem to be everywhere these days, and I just love trying the yellows, the purples, the pinks, and all the various shades of red. Tomatoes and steak go together, and potatoes complete the trio. But what makes these three staples less ‘meat and potatoes’ and more, well, something special, is the addition of a garlicky condiment chock-full…
Friday night is calling for pasta, so head to your pantry and make it happen. All you need are beans, peppers, tomato paste and your favorite tube pasta, plus some herbs and spices that will round everything out. But what will send this over the top are the garlicky breadcrumbs that taste like garlic bread. I prefer panko breadcrumbs – I like their larger flake and their crunch – but use whatever you have on hand, or make yourself. They provide that extra something, giving the pasta another dimension. No red sauce here, just the chopped roasted red peppers and…
Let’s face it: one of the best things in the world is chocolate cake. Except if you are allergic to chocolate. Or don’t eat dessert. In those cases, I feel sorry for you. But if you are a chocolate lover like me, consider making this delectable, couldn’t-be-easier flourless chocolate cake for your next special dinner, even if it is a night-in at home with pizza watching the game. The beauty of this cake is that you don’t need to bake it, and its flourless state is suitable for people who can’t tolerate gluten. What really makes a flourless chocolate cake…
A Labor Day cookout would not be complete without a 7-layer salad. A staple on both Southern and Midwestern picnic tables, this salad can be anything you want it to be. Lettuce, chopped veggies, eggs, a pork product of some kind, cheese, and herbs, all come together with a creamy, tangy dressing. It is the perfect accompaniment for anything grilled, such as the grilled summer kabobs I introduced to you in Part 2. In this recipe from FoodNetwork, we take out the eggs and replace them with pasta and call it Part 3 of our Cookout Classics for Labor Day.…
I love turkey. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and could eat the full Turkey Day meal year-round. But turkey is not something you think about grilling, and doesn’t appear the barbeque pantheon of burgers, breasts and brats. Even fish like salmon and mahi mahi make an appearance more regularly than turkey. Let’s change that! Consider the kabob not with beef or chicken, but with chunks of seasoned, juicy, turkey breast tenderloins paired with the last of the summer vegetables. If you still have squash and zucchini bursting from your garden, then this is a great way to use them. This…
Labor Day is upon us, and for many, that marks the unofficial end of summer. Combined with back-to-school activities, and the promise of cooler weather ahead (although where I am it’s been sweltering), people seem to have written off the lazy, hazy days. But it is still summer! And there is no reason to put away the grill…yet. The recipe below is the first in a series of Labor Day recipes that you can prepare and whip up in no time. Whether it’s just the two of you, the family, or the neighborhood, try this Part 1 of Cooking Classics:…
If you are firmly planted in the do-it-yourself (DIY) world for food (yogurt, bread, etc.), or want to get into DIY, why not try making your own body scrub? It couldn’t be easier, plus you can double or quadruple the recipe and make gifts for the holidays which will be here before you know it. All you need are three ingredients (a base, an oil, and sweet-smelling additions) and you’ll be scrubbed and glowing before you know it! INGREDIENTS Base: For your scrub base you will choose between sugar or salt. Depending upon your level of exfoliation, you have some…
My culinary life changed when I got a muffin tin. I use the twelve-cup, non-stick, tin for things other than muffins. I’ve made pizza muffins, macaroni and cheese bites, and meatballs using the tin. I’ve also made muffins, of course, but until I found myself with a large punnet of blueberries I had never made blueberry muffins. Bread, yes, but never muffins. Crazy! So I rectified this slight by researching recipes and landed on a great one from Smitten Kitchen, one that had been adapted from earlier iterations of the cakey, fruity, mushroom-shaped edible sculptures. What makes the recipe for…
I have a few go-to sandwiches that I like to order and one of them is the tuna melt. I can’t recall ever having a bad one, but I do know the best one I’ve ever had is one I made myself. And I am not tooting my own horn, because the sandwich recipe I used came from kitchen denizen Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, whose elevated comfort food has saved me many times when I am in a cooking rut. The key to kicking up the tuna melt a notch is to start with good tuna, and the…
The Dutch baby pancake is one of those things that looks as though it takes ages to make, and a culinary degree to even try it. But it couldn’t be easier, as it doesn’t take any special ingredients or equipment. Now that school is back in session in many parts of the country, why not start the kids’ day off right with a puffed pancake that they call fill with the last of the summer fruit? So what is a Dutch baby pancake, anyway? For starters, it actually hails from Germany, not the Netherlands, as it is believed that the…
She’s a country music legend, prolific and award-winning songwriter, theme park owner, actress, and cookbook author. Is there nothing Dolly can’t do? I’ve known about Dolly Parton since I was a little girl and she’s sort of always been a part of my life, whether listening to her songs on the car radio, watching her in the awesome movie “9 to 5,” to hear all of the jokes about her ample physique. She has an impressive resume in the entertainment industry and comes across as a happy, sunny, positive person, but I never, ever knew that she is also an…
You’ve heard it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets the tone for your morning and can brighten your mood if you’ve had a restless night before when slumberland eluded you. But how often have you just skipped breakfast because you just couldn’t be bothered? Or you’ve had everything edible already (everything? really?) and nothing appeals to you? Maybe you just grab a handful of jelly beans, or a crumbly sugar-ladened granola bar and call it a day? Or maybe, just maybe, it’s a cup o’ joe and nothing more until you hit the…
I found out about ice cream tacos when I first learned about the demise of the Choco Taco, an ice cream treat from the Klondike group (you may know it’s more familiar Klondike bar), something that I never even knew existed. The Choco Taco was a relatively simple dessert, a build of crisp waffle shell, a chocolate coating festooned with crunchy peanuts, and creamy ice cream with rivers of chocolate fudge. Why the company ushered in the disappearance of a dessert that seemed to have a loyal following since its debut in 1984 is unclear The fact that this delectable-sounding…
Some of us eat with gay abandon, not a care in the world for caloric content, fat, sodium, or cholesterol. Others plan their meals, read food labels, and have a general sense of what they consume each day. But most of us underestimate the number of calories we consume each day. Two slices of pizza are around 600 calories, and then you add two glasses of red wine (around 250 calories), and a slice of chocolate cake (350 calories) and you have a whopping 1,200 calories for just one meal. Coupled with the calorie underestimation is that Americans are under-consuming…
If COVID-19 taught us anything, it is that we need to take charge of our own health. Compounding this revelation is the current state of the economy, with runaway inflation and mounting financial obligations making it more difficult to stretch the dollar. Getting sick is more impactful on both the psyche and the wallet, so it’s important to take one’s health seriously. Instead of relying on Big Pharma, people are looking at how they can make changes in their own lives to improve health. Eating a balanced diet, including exercise into the daily routine, losing weight, getting fresh air and…