From Scratch

When I miss Maryland, as I have been lately, the only thing short of going there that satisfies my longing is Old Bay. The seasoning mix is the integral ingredient in steamed crabs and enhances many other dishes. As Chesapeake Bay blue crab is not a staple in New England stores, I usually make this […]

Most people enjoy barbecued ribs but there are potential deterrents: not everyone can cook outdoors and ribs can become a project, what with starting them indoors in the oven or a pressure cooker and moving them outdoors to the grill. Marinate them before cooking and we’re looking at a meal that makes us wait most […]

For some reason, we Americans tend to think of scrambled eggs as a breakfast or brunch dish, not a main course for lunch or a light dinner. Many people in other countries have them for any meal of the day and they can be a perfect choice.
Since I’ve been trying to follow the Big Breakfast […]

We usually think of this type of dish as French bistro fare and it is, but this one’s Italian, from Lombardy — its proper name is pollo all’ aceto — so the often-used shallots and thyme are not present. It’s every bit as delicious as its French counterpart and just as simple, now that I’ve streamlined […]

This spice rub is the companion recipe to Pineapple Salsa and can be used when grilling chicken, turkey or pork indoors or out. It’s a keeper for me, for a couple reasons.
Sure, we can buy spice rubs but like taco seasoning mixes, they tend to have more sodium than anyone needs when eating sensibily. Like all […]

This is the companion recipe to the gingered carrot soup I posted a few days ago. Like the soup, it’s fabulous and can stand on its own but they are better together; their flavors compliment each other perfectly. It’s fast, simple and tastes as if it required a lot more work. It epitomizes the wisdom of […]

Like most people, when I think of vindaloo I think of a hot dish, one of the hottest on the menu, and one that needs a long and low stay in the oven. This vindaloo is different on both counts. It’s dinner on the table in well under an hour and it’s as mild — […]

It’s not hyberbole. This really is the best marinade recipe I’ve ever used. It’s also a recipe for chicken fajitas, but I love the marinade so much I often use it on its own. 
This gets raves. The herbs are right, the acids are right and the chicken is moist and delectable whether it’s grilled outdoors or […]

This quick and easy recipe of angel hair pasta and shrimp delivers heavenly flavors but can be made in roughly the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta. Dinner’s on the table in 15 to 20 minutes.
There aren’t many steps here, but when the garlic and oregano were in the pan with olive […]

This moist bone-in pork roast, with a reduction made from apple juice, is a perfect recipe when you want a main course that’s OMG delicious but requires little work. When carved at the table, it’s impressive too.
It’s the dish I referred to in Opportunities to Stretch a Food Budget and it’s one of my favorites. The pork gets […]

These wonderful, jazzed-up turkey burgers are on my grill every summer and in my grill pan every winter. Often, turkey or chicken burgers end up bland and dry, even when not overcooked, but these don’t. Sometimes ground poultry doesn’t hold together the way ground beef does, but these do without the overhandling that leads to […]

Nothing racy here, just chicken thighs, and their name’s a bit of a misnomer because they’re flavorful but gently seasoned.
I mentioned a few days ago that I’ve been cooking with ginger and this was on the “to try” list. It’s another winner from Perdue and uses a touch of chili powder and some cumin along […]

Do we eat enough fish? Consider this. The cod fillet in the photograph is more cod than the average American eats in an entire year. It was a 12-ounce fillet before cooking; Americans ate an average of just over half a pound each in 2006, the most recent year posted at All About Seafood.
In 2001, shrimp […]

A friend and I came up with this quick and easy recipe a couple years ago, when we decided to cut back on carbs and lose a little weight. A little is all we lost — how does anyone go weeks without fruit? — and it wasn’t lost for long, but I still enjoy this […]

It’s effortless, uses few ingredients and has a delicious twist: it creates its own sauce. No liquid is used. This recipe for brisket as pot roast is not your grandmother’s brisket. Not Bubbe’s at Passover nor Grammie’s on a cold day.
This is unlike any other recipe I’ve seen for braised brisket. Along with not needing liquid, […]