Wednesday afternoon. Last to-do: pick up some Chardonnay to serve with chicken cutlets, steamed rice, and broccoli. Kai the husky was riding shotgun, his preference any time a car door is open. Sometimes he even settles behind the steering wheel, and I have to flat out tell him he can’t drive. We had just left the…
Category: Dinner
Skillet Burgers
You do know how much better homemade burgers taste if you wrap them in squares of waxed paper and let them sit for a few minutes before serving, right? Cook the seasoned beef (I like ground bison) patties in a skillet filmed with vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Turn to brown both sides. Cover with…
Peach Caprese Salad
Do you have access to two sweet, ripe peaches, grown by a farmer within your area code? Rinse, dry, and quarter them, and then array them like a first grader’s idea of the sun on a plate. Is basil still growing in a pot on your backyard deck? No? Has the sun fried it? Can…
Dinner on the Deck (Pimm’s Cup, Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Honey-Walnut Goat Cheese, Raspberry-Ricotta Cake)
I like people who are adventurous eaters, who don’t mind being guinea pigs for new recipes, and who don’t question a cook who asks them to bring a half pound of roast beef to dinner (sliced on the one, in deli speak). That makes S and J some of my favorite diners on the planet,…
Chicken with Beans & Tomatoes
This is one of my top ten favorite recipes. It’s comfort food. Source is Real Simple magazine, and it’s the reason I try to keep pots of oregano and thyme growing on my deck most of the year. Here’s how to make it, with minor adaptations. Chicken with Beans and Tomatoes 2 15.5-ounce cans cannellini…
Twenty-seven Hats (and Honey-Mustard Chicken)
After my mother died several years ago, there were 10,000 details to attend to. I’ll tell you now, it isn’t easy figuring out how to stop an electronically-drafted pension issued from a foreign country through an unknown entity based on employment 55 years earlier by a company that had no record of my mother working…
Roasted Red Snapper
A seafood counter clerk had already packaged my salmon filets by the time I noticed the snappers. My eyes swiveled like a flounder’s spying prey. These fish had heads and tails, unusual in my suburban grocery store, several hundred miles from the nearest U.S. coast. And they were fresh, their silvery skins glinting bits of…
Chicken Tortilla Soup (In Case You Missed It)
Sometimes a bowl of soup is just a bowl of soup, and sometimes it bears the weight of a thousand prayers for protection and swift return. ♦ ♦ ♦ A soldier I know left for faraway lands last month, honoring his promise to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies….
Cooking with Red and Green
I like to cook with color any time of year, but especially during Christmas holidays. Red and green food is festive and delicious. Have a Christmas cookie! Christmas Shortbread To the shortbread and linzer cookie dough I write about elsewhere in this book, add 3/4 cup (3.5 ounces) finely chopped pistachios and 3/4 cup (4.25…
After the Feast
Thanksgiving is over, and it was good. We started the morning with Pumpkin Scones, served with a little cinnamon butter on the side. These were tender and delicious, and I’ll make them again. (Note for next time: try freezing the unbaked wedges overnight, and adjust the baking time accordingly. Might hold their shape a little…
Cookbook Wall 