My kids have been stuck at home since mid-March. Our summer garden was overrun with fresh cucumbers. The world was on fire. Nothing to do but make pickles. Continue Reading…
In my experience growing up, carrots were served two ways: raw, sliced and served on a green salad, or cut into chunks and boiled to hospital food mush. I loved the former, but despised the latter, and so for years, I figured all forms of cooked carrots were, well, just gross.
Then along came roasting, or at least along came my discovery of it. Roasting any vegetable is one of the greatest ways to bring out its earthy sweetness, but roasting carrots is especially effective. Carrots go from being a pleasantly flavorful raw snack, to being a deeply sweet and elegant veggie side dish.
There is, however, a trick to getting roasted carrots right.
This post, we’re raising a glass to that consummate of Southern cakes – the pound cake. It’s a great time to stash away a good recipe, because a solid pound cake can take you through a spectrum of fall functions, from tailgate parties to holiday events. Continue Reading…
Grilled Sausages and Fresh Vegetables is the Perfect Easy Dinner
It’s one of the easiest dinners I’ve prepared this spring – a time when easy is essential. My three kids, one each in elementary, middle and high school, are in the thick of homework, school projects, swim practice, track meets, community plays and charity work, and they all come with their own mom-involved to do list. A simple dinner is key to survival, and I’m here to tell you that Grill Night checks that box and whole bunch more.
Vibrant, Easy and Delicious: Pork and Tomatillo Stew
One of the best ways to treat tougher cuts of pork is to cook them low and slow, and this rule applies to the stove as much it does the grill. In this yummy, hearty-but-healthy spring stew, we’re braising cubes of pork loin roast (not tenderloin), and adding lots of vegetables, earthy spices and fresh tomatillos.
Last week, on my 225 Magazine food blog, Spatula Diaries, I posted about Spinach Madeleine, the iconic spicy spinach side dish that helped make the Junior League of Baton Rouge’s River Road Recipes one of the best selling community cookbooks of all time. The dish has a great story arc. It was invented on the spot, became wildly popular and was thrown into confusion when one of its key ingredients, Kraft’s jalapeño cheese log, was discontinued.
In 2011, I had the pleasure of interviewing its creator, Madeline Wright. Here’s that story, which ran in 225 in 2011.