Search Results for: Feed Your Soul

Smoked Barbecued Baby Back Ribs

With a sniffle and sigh, I put my old Webber charcoal kettle – mottled with rust and wear – out to pasture last month. I’ve had the grill well over 15 years, and have many fond memories of the get-togethers we’ve co-hosted: smoked pork butts for BQ sandwiches at my son’s graduation party, cedar-planked Copper … Full recipe post »

Skillet Fried Chicken

With trepidation, I’ve been working on a recipe for fried chicken, wondering why anyone needs another with Emeril Lagasse and Paula Deen crowding the kitchen. That, however, is a pitiful excuse. Up until now my fried chicken has been only so-so. I grew up following generations of Alabama women who made outrageously delicious fried chicken several times a week. They could … Full recipe post »

Mint-Pesto Crostini with Smoked Salmon & Goat Cheese

When out-of-town guests pay a quick visit, I don’t do much cooking. I love showing off Ann Arbor; the renowned campus, downtown eateries and shops are far more entertaining than my backyard. But I’m a cook, and guests expect a bit of something special from my kitchen. Last week a good friend from Seattle, Jeannie, … Full recipe post »

Linguini with Clam Sauce is a Rhapsody in Food

With the soul of the earth and scent of the sea, primal senses quicken when devouring a bowl of Linguini and Clam Sauce; few culinary classics, in fact, are such fun to eat. Spearing the mollusk and prying it from its shell, you thrust it into a tangle of pasta, twirling your fork to create … Full recipe post »

Scarola e Fagiole: White Bean and Escarole Soup with Homemade Pancetta

“Yumm… greens and beans,” said our buddy Joe Spallina, inhaling the simmering pork and rosemary in my version of Scarola e Fagiole, a thick, aromatic soup of escarole and white beans. Joe is a technology wizard and pays my husband, Richard, and I an occasional visit, bestowing lessons and imparting kernels of wisdom to assuage our computer-challenged … Full recipe post »

Vicki’s Famous White and Dark Chocolate Bark

This is the companion piece to Vicki’s Famous Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle. And, if the truth be told, I prefer this recipe to the brittle. Why? The chocolate. I like chocolate; it improves my mood. Particularly white chocolate. More particularly, Ghiradelli or Callabaut white chocolate. Another reason to love this recipe is it takes only minutes … Full recipe post »

Pimento Cheese with Creme Fraiche and Bacon

I’m pondering the cosmic irony that suggests Thanksgiving and Christmas are times of peace and tranquility; especially when the two holidays collide like a comet into Jupiter. Whether your hobbies be altruistic, creating clever greeting cards, stitching needlepoint pillows resembling your friends pets,  or – sigh – cooking, you barely get a breather before the … Full recipe post »

Pork Chops with Apples and Maple Beer Sauce

I often turn to the bottle to add intricacies of flavor and intrigue to a dish. Generally the alcohol is used to deglaze a pan for a quick sauce, or as a component of a braising liquid for a dish requiring more time. My basic rule of thumb is for chicken and fish, I use … Full recipe post »

Smokey Meatball Subs

Nothing shouts football louder than a meatball sub. The sandwich — brown-flecked porky pigskins in a bun posed for trajectory — even resembles the sport. I’m turning down the volume on this sub recipe, injecting Spanish notes to the traditional favorite. Lord knows I need some calming down, for instance, after that Notre Dame game. … Full recipe post »

Fried Green Tomatoes with a Tomato-Corn Relish

I’ve leftover relish from yesterday’s Grilled White Fish with Tomato-Caper recipe. I spy fat green tomatoes hanging heavy on the vine and am confident the leftover relish would be superb with the classic Southern specialty, Fried Green Tomatoes. I only have a several tablespoons of the relish left, so I blanched an ear of corn to bolster … Full recipe post »

No-Fuss Barbecue Ribs

If you’re a cook wondering if you should have smoked that last batch of ribs over hickory and white oak instead of mesquite, skip this article. Still reading? Then don’t say I didn’t warn you. The following is a no-smoke recipe for barbecued pork ribs that begins with simmering the ribs in dark beer and … Full recipe post »

Mashed Potato and Pickle Relish Salad

If you grew up in the baby boom era like me, this is the type of potato salad you may remember fondly. Or not. Across America in the fifties and sixties, you could expect a scoop of it snuggled next to the grilled cheese sandwich at the counter bar at truck stops, drug stores, and diners. If memory serves, back … Full recipe post »

No-Burn Barbecue Chicken

Barbecued chicken – my favorite kind with the skin and bone attached — is one of the more abused foods on the grill. (Blackened skin and raw flesh — yuck!) Sugary sauces and chicken fat are the main culprits behind flare-ups, charring your bird long before it’s done. The following five-step program for cooking whole pieces of … Full recipe post »

Lamb and Lentil Soup with Tuscan Kale

I’ve made variations on this  soup in past blogs, but this recipe will be even better because I have (trumpet fanfare)…a meaty lamb bone to make the stock. Last week I made a boneless leg of lamb in puff pastry and asked the butcher to save the bone for me after he boned it. To … Full recipe post »

Asparagus Bread Pudding

Some of you may have your Easter day menu and to-do list organized on a spread sheet. You set your table yesterday, and fresh polished silver gleams atop ironed linen napkins, which coordinate stylishly with your china and the fresh flower centerpiece you will arrange on Saturday. I admire your efficiency, and looking about my … Full recipe post »