How To Make Pot Roast

September 9, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Beef, Dinner ,

Yes, I've done pot roast before. But that was in a crock pot. (Oops, I mean a "slow cooker". Crock-Pot is a brand name.) Now that I've got a Dutch oven*, I've got a new method. It's faster, easier, clean-up is easier, and the results are at least as good. Gotta love that. * Technically Le Creuset call theirs a "French oven". Find me anyone outside their company who calls it that and maybe I'll be number 2. But until then ... it's a Dutch oven. So let it be written, so let it be done. … [Read more...]

How To Make Potted Chicken

September 7, 2010 (Updated January 30, 2015) by
Dinner, Fowl , , ,

My first thought when I tasted this was, "This doesn't taste like Italian to me. Maybe French." Jenn agreed. But her father, Lou -- whose mother and six sisters were all born in Italy -- said, "No, that's what Italian tasted like when I was growing up." I cook tomato sauce with beef or sausage in it all the time. I don't usually do it with chicken. But this, the ingredients and the method, is exactly how Nana, Sentina, Coca, Josephine, Bertha, Nora and Perrina used to cook. … [Read more...]

How To Make Shrimp Creole

September 2, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Dinner, Fish ,

I'm a Yankee. So I have no idea how traditional this version of shrimp creole may be. But it sure is tasty. NOTE: It's always a good idea to ask where your meat is coming from, but with shrimp it's even more important. With the oil spill in the gulf, we don't yet know the impact on fish that could be caught this year, or the long-term viability of the fisheries. And it's probably best to avoid imported shrimp, except from Canada. (This assumes you're in the U.S. Otherwise, check your local … [Read more...]

How To Make Pesto

August 25, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Dressing / Sauce , ,

Pesto is usually thought of as something that you put directly on pasta. But it also makes a great ingredient to keep on hand for making a quick spaghetti sauce, or for a burst of flavor in soup or stew. I really should be saying "basil pesto", because you can make pesto from any herb. "Pesto" refers to the technique. Traditionally, pesto was made by mashing the herbs in a mortar and pestle -- pestle, pesto, get it? … [Read more...]

How To Make Zucchini Latkes

August 24, 2010 (Updated March 20, 2014) by
Dinner, Lunch ,

Latkes are usually made with potatoes. But I didn't have a monster potato that I had to use before it went bad, I had a zucchini. If this sounds familiar, it's the same way I started the blueberry peach crisp recipe. There's a lesson there: You don't always have to pick a recipe then go buy the ingredients. When you've got a garden -- or access to a good farmers market -- you get the ingredients when they're ready, then find a recipe to use them in. … [Read more...]

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