From Scratch

There’s nothing like several decades of prosperity to alter a dish, and while my Irish forebears would recognize the Irish Stew I enjoy today, they surely would think it’s very grand. What used to be a peasant meal has evolved, using finer ingredients and often, the classic French technique of mounting a sauce, adding a […]

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, […]

I don’t know if food prices are rising in your country but they are in mine, and quite sharply. Sometimes the only way to stay within a budget is to use more economical cuts of meat, the really flavorful ones that are tough from frequent use on the animal but which become fork tender when cooked […]

Oh, I know. It sounds bizarre. So did Coca-Cola ham till I tried it.
This appeared in my Epicurious Healthy Dinners widget a few weeks ago. Braising is one of my favorite cooking methods, especially for economical cuts of beef, and running across nice chuck roasts on sale made this especially thrifty.
I don’t mind admitting I had my […]

This is a make-life-simple recipe. It’s not haute cuisine by any means but it is comfort food with a twist or two.
The simplicity comes from its preparation in a microwave; the twists are a combination of spicy flavors more often associated with Tex-Mex and then making it into fast-cooking individual meatloaves.
It’s quick and easy as […]

We’re all so busy this time of year. I know I’m not the only one who can’t always bear the thought of an hour or more in the kitchen after a long go-go day. Neither microwave meals nor fast food are part of my life, so jam-packed days leave me with only a few options, ranging […]

The temperature doesn’t have to drop much for me to think of beef stew. Depending on which appliance you use, the cooking time for this flavorful meal in a bowl will be either 10 minutes or 8-10 hours. Either way, it’s carefree.
It’s a pressure cooker recipe but I’ve also made it in the slow cooker […]

 
Some weekends I just like to cocoon, listening to music, reading and dozing off whenever my body and mind want to. My slow cooker is my best friend on those days, enabling me to start a meal with minimal prep and leave it alone.
This is a favorite for those times. It came about when my […]

For many, Labor Day weekend will bring a final flurry of outdoor cooking and often, that means steaks. When I think of the finest Prime beef I’ve ever bought at retail only one name comes to mind: Lobel’s. It’s on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and this will describe it for you:

Jackie O bought her meat there
So […]

This a curried ground meat dish from South Africa, and although there are other spellings of the name, this is the way it came to me years ago. I’ve made it with lean ground beef and with ground chicken but really prefer it with lamb, which I’ve used here. I usually cut the recipe in […]

I’ll take a real chef over a “personality” any day, so I’m not too fond of The Food Network’s current crop of popular shows. Many of the chefs are gone or diminished, but every now and then I run across Tyler Florence. I always watch if I have time. He’s a chef who hasn’t forgotten […]

Even here in The Little Snowball it’s finally warm enough for outdoor cooking. For most people I know, that means steaks on the grill and their uniquely wonderful taste. Still, for many beef lovers a steak is only perfect with steak sauce and why not? Who wouldn’t want a filet topped with high fructose corn syrup, salt, […]

So one day, while Mr. Knife Skills was chopping veggies into a fine dice for bolognese sauce, he suggested I post about what he called “guy food.” I turned off the processor, which was chopping beef without my help, certain the noise had affected my hearing. “Guy food?” Without looking up he said, “Yes. Food for […]

I’ve spent a lot of time in Ireland and was active in the Irish-American community in New York, and whenever I was asked why we Yanks think corned beef and cabbage go hand-in-hand with St. Patrick’s Day, I’d admit I didn’t know. I did know it wasn’t standard March 17th fare over there — bacon or […]