You’ll see some Chicken and Dumplings topped with dropped dumplings that are steamed on top of a brothy chicken and vegetable base. Others have kneaded dough dumplings that have been rolled out and cut, then simmered in a flavorful broth with chicken and vegetables....
Italian Meatballs
Every once in a while, I head over to my all-time favorite pizza place--The Ravenite Pizzeria, though we usually just call it Ravenite--and I don’t order a pizza. Instead I get an order of meatballs and a Greek salad. It makes a great dinner! The hand-rolled Italian...
Ultimate Nachos Casserole
Y’all know how we are about TexMex food around here. We LOVE it. We love it so much that we keep lots of TexMex ingredients around at all times. We love it so much that we need lots of easy recipes to use all that stuff up. We love it so much that at my house TexMex...
Creole Pot Roast with Tomato and Onion Gravy
Not all Creole food is spicy hot, but you can count on it to be well-seasoned and full of flavor, and this insanely easy pot roast is no exception. Laced with Italian seasoning, marjoram, and a hint of ground cloves, I promise you’ll wonder where this pot roast has...
Boiled Peanuts
I adore boiled peanuts. They’re salty, spicy, delicious, and a bit of a litmus test. You say you don't like them? Then you must not be from around here. I can accept that boiled peanuts aren't a universal favorite, I guess, but why are some people so dismissive of...
Balsamic Onion Burgers
Growing up we had a terrific restaurant in town called The Saratoga Trunk. They had pastas, salads, steaks, and some seafood, but in my mind the real standouts were the burgers. The menu itself wasn’t huge, and I don’t know how many burgers were on the menu, but it...
Drip Beef, Plus a Quick and Easy Ragù
Drip beef, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love the way I can fling a measly few ingredients into the slow cooker and then wander off, oblivious. I love the way you cook yourself--with absolutely no help from me--for hours and hours on end. I love the way...
Birthday Brunch Potatoes
It’s January, and even though I don’t make New Year’s resolutions I’ve been eating lighter overall. A boiled egg is breakfast most days, cottage cheese or salad is fine for lunch, fruit or a handful of pecans makes an easy snack. We’ve even had light dinners most...
Summer Corn Chowder
Silver Queen corn season in Baldwin County, Alabama, has loomed large in my mind as long as I can remember. As a kid I loved corn on the cob--I still do--and in our family we never, ever, ever, had that kind of corn on the cob that came pouring out of a white grocery...
A Perfect Day for Making Stock
Easy to make Chicken stock and/or vegetable stock method
Shrimp and Grits
I can’t remember the restaurant where I first ate shrimp and grits, but I do remember the dish itself: the shrimp were in a light, spicy, tomato-based gravy with smoked ham. Turns out the tomato-based business was mildly scandalous, but that’s exactly how I learned to like it and I’ve made the dish below ever since.
Creole Stuffed Eggplant
Growing up we always had eggplant growing in the summer. Though the ripe fruits themselves were easily the most gorgeous things to come out of the garden, cooked eggplant was dowdy. Taste-wise, it was okay, but somehow non-committal. The texture was...