Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Warm Up With Soothing and Spunky Galician White Bean Soup

Posted on by 3 comments
Loaded with smoky chorizo, creamy beans, turnips and greens, this soup sure satisfies.

Loaded with smoky chorizo, creamy beans, turnips and greens, this soup sure satisfies.

 

Enough with the rain already.

With our reservoirs at capacity, I think I no longer have to feel guilty about saying that, right?

Are you with me, ready for some sunshine, at least enough for an entire week’s worth?

If there can be one meager upside to the continuation of these dreary wet days, it’s that it’s perfect soup weather. And only that.

“Caldo Gallego (Galician White Bean Soup)” is plenty delicious. But it’s not the type of thing you want to spoon up on a scorching summer day. But when the skies are gray and there’s still a bit of chill in the air, this hearty Spanish soup really hits the spot.

It’s from the Wall Street Journal. And it’s a cinch to make.

Read more

Duck, Duck…Meatloaf Or Burger

Posted on by 5 comments
Ever tried a duck burger? You definitely should!

Ever tried a duck burger? You definitely should!

 

Chicken and turkey make decent enough burger substitutes.

But they ain’t got nothing on duck.

If you’ve never had a duck burger before, prepare yourself for a most righteous patty on a bun.

In the cookbook, “Kindness & Salt: Recipes for the Care and Feeding of Your Friends and Neighbors” (Grand Central Life & Style, 2018), of which I received a review copy, the recipe may be called “Duck Meatloaf,” but even authors Ryan Angulo and Doug Crowell advise that it can be eaten burger-style with a smear of mustard.

The two owners and chefs of the popular Brooklyn spots, French Louie and Buttermilk Channel, have served this duck dish at the latter since it opened in 2008.

The cookbook’s title refers to the two most important ingredients they believe that are needed to take a good meal into the realm of greatness.

Kindness and Salt Cookbook

The 100-plus recipes give the makings to serve just that in the casual comfort of your own home with recipes such as “Salt-Roasted Beet Hummus,” “Slow-Roasted Pork Spare Ribs with Ancho Chile Marinade” and “Delicata Squash Tart.”

Read more

Duck, Duck…Dried Plums or Prunes

Posted on by 5 comments
Duck legs get a lot of love with red wine and dried plums.

Duck legs get a lot of love with red wine and dried plums.

 

There is something that has annoyed me to no end for quite awhile. And I know I’m not the only one who frets about this rather unforgivable injustice.

It’s when someone refers to me as “ma’am.”

I bristle.

Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was “Miss”?

What happened to those days?

I know it’s only semantics. Still, it’s a bruiser. No, I may not like it, but I have glumly accepted it.

That’s what irks me about prunes. Oh sure, they get to be called “dried plums” now. What’s up with that?

Like the rest of us “ma’ams,” I’m sure they felt labeled “old and decrepit” beyond their years with that moniker. But somehow, they’re fortunate to get a new name, one that’s peppier and more youthful. We should all be so lucky, right?

I couldn’t help but think of that amusingly when I spied a recipe for “Red Wine-Braised Duck Legs with Dried Plums.” It’s a classic French country recipe, though, back in the day it was known as duck with prunes.

Wine Country Table

The recipe is from the new “Wine Country Table: With Recipes that Celebrate California’s Sustainable Harvest” (Rizzoli), of which I received a review copy. It’s written by veteran award-winning cookbook author Janet Fletcher, who makes her home in the Napa Valley, in collaboration with the Wine Institute.

Read more

Southern Italian Pork with Grapes

Posted on by 4 comments
Plenty of plump red grapes along with juicy tender pork. All over soft polenta.

Plenty of plump red grapes along with juicy tender pork. All over soft polenta.

 

Rustic Italian dishes with comforting flavors that speak to the soul.

Ones that are classic — not flashy. And that are in danger of disappearing.

That’s what “Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes” (Clarkson Potter) is all about.

The new cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is by Katie Parla, a Rome-based food and wine writer who was a culinary consultant on Season 2 of Netflix’s “Master of None.”

Through 85 recipes, she shines a light on the simple yet satisfying dishes of Basilicata, Calabria, Compania, Molise and Puglia. Take a taste of everything from “Bread Dumplings with Potato and Tomato Broth” and “Orecchiette with Burrata, Tomatoes, and Almond Pesto” to “Egg and Ham Pie” to “Jam Tart with Lard Crust.”

Food of the Italian South

“Pork Cooked with Grapes” (Spezzatino All’Uva) is home-style cooking at its best, a dish of few ingredients that you combine, then let cook on its own, until the pork-fruity flavors marry.

Read more

Any Night’s Right for Pasta Aglio E Olio Con Peperoncino

Posted on by 6 comments
Classic olive oil-garlic-hot pepper pasta gets a boost.

Classic olive oil-garlic-hot pepper pasta gets a boost.

 

You gotta love a recipe that’s so easy yet so sublime that it can be both a quick clean-out-the-pantry desperation dish, as well as a fit-for-company dazzler.

“Pasta Aglio E Olio Con Peperoncino” is exactly that.

It’s straight-forward enough to whip together on a weeknight when you don’t know what else to make after coming home after work. And it’s special enough to make for spur-of-the-moment guests who come calling unexpectedly.

It’s from “House of Vinegar: The Power of Sour, with Recipes” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy. It’s by James Beard Award-winning Chef Jonathon Sawyer of Cleveland’s Greenhouse Tavern. You may recognize as a competitor on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef Gauntlet” and the Cooking Channel’s “Chopped.”

House of Vinegar

As the name implies, the book is all about how vinegar can transform dishes. Depending upon how much you use, it adds noticeable tang, rounds flavors, and can help tame and balance sweetness, bitterness and saltiness.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »