Welsh Rarebit

I’d like to propose a toast

Originally appeared in the February 24, 2011 edition of the Southside Times.

One morning over a couple slices of French toast, Jack—our inquisitive kindergartener—said, “How come you never write about breakfast food?”  I inhaled, ready to deliver an elegant response.  Instead I twitched a frown.  All I could muster was, “Well…I don’t know.”  This, it would suffice to say, was not a satisfying reply for our clever fellow.  I have fond memories of my mother adding a bit of cheese to the top of my toast for breakfast.  And this warm recollection guided me toward this week’s recipe.  Check out more after the jump: (more…)

Published in: on February 24, 2011 at 4:41 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Grilled lamb chops with herb butter

Top chops

Originally appeared in the February 17, 2011 edition of The Southside Times.

Despite the prognosticating prowess of that woodchuck over in Punxsutawney, and notwithstanding the recent Midwestern warm-up, you may think it untimely to be discussing the grill.  Yet, with the proper equipment, there’s no season in which grilling is off limits.  More here: (more…)

Published in: on February 17, 2011 at 6:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Chicken Fricassée

Honest, Abe:  what’s cooking?

Originally appeared in the February 10, 2011 edition of the Southside Times.

With Abraham Lincoln’s birthday this Saturday, I thought it apropos to give a culinary nod to one of our most celebrated presidents.  Some texts suggest that Lincoln was indifferent to dining, and that his eating habits reflected the more austere facets of his personality.  Others maintain that Abe had a soft spot for one simple dish in particular.

In A Treasury of White House Cooking (Putnam, 1972), François Rysavy (who served a brief gig as president Eisenhower’s chef) claims that “one of the few entrees that would tempt Lincoln was Chicken Fricassée.”  More after the jump: (more…)

Published in: on February 10, 2011 at 6:43 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Cavatelli with Sardinian meat sauce

On the radar:  cavatelli

Originally appeared in the February 03, 2011 edition of the Southside Times.

As I write this, local meteorologists are forecasting the potential arrival of a record-breaking snow-and-ice storm.  If the Doppler-radar prophets of doom are correct, then we may all be thawing out from a few days of vicious precipitation.  But no worries.  This recipe, cavatelli with Sardinian meat sauce, will help knock-off the chill.  More after the jump: (more…)

Published in: on February 3, 2011 at 4:05 pm  Leave a Comment  
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