“Don’t call it gazpacho.““Why not? It looks like gazpacho, but with some zucchini.““It’s my soup. I made it up. It’s not gazpacho. Don’t call it gazpacho.““Okay dad, whatever you say.” So instead, my brother Eddie has named it “The Farmer’s Market in a Soup”. Given that dad brought home every ingredient except the seasonings and broth from our local farmers market, the name makes sense. It is a wonderfully cool, fresh soup for a hot summer day....
The starchy residue that lies beneath the kernels thickens the corn, and in this version, cream seals the deal. Even summer has its cool and rainy days, but a warm bowl of these sweet golden kernels can cheer you while you wait for the sun to come out. Video: How to Make Creamed Corn Fresh vs. Frozen Corn In corn season, fresh corn is always optimal, and it really is the sweetest, most irresistible choice....
What Is Polenta? Polenta is a porridge type dish popular in Northern Italy. In Italy it is often made with various ingredients, including cornmeal, ground rice, buckwheat, and chestnut flour. Here in North America, it is generally made exclusively with coarsely ground cornmeal. Think of polenta as an Italian version of grits! But made with yellow corn instead of the white corn of grits. You can make and serve polenta warm and porridge-like, or you can let it set and slice it to grill or fry....
This Creole potato salad hails from Louisiana where people are never too far from their Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s. The distinguishing feature of creole potato salad is “creole mustard”, which has a unique spicy taste with chiles, molasses, and herbs. I was able to find a jar at our local Raley’s grocery store here in Sacramento, so I’m guessing that it’s not too hard to find in other parts of the country....
Key Ingredients to the Best Potato Salad Then the next week my father made his version of potato salad. It was great too! The difference? Pickle juice and mustard. Also he throws in a hard boiled egg once in a while too. Note that getting the recipe out of my parents generated the usual recipe banter. Dad: “Use Russets.” Mom: “I’ve been making this recipe for years with all kinds of potatoes....
This Alfredo sauce can be made in about 10 minutes and then stashed in the fridge or freezer until you need it. Reheat and toss with pasta, veggies, or anything that could use a little saucy, cheesy assistance to make it delicious. Video: Easy Make-Ahead Alfredo Sauce Mornay Sauce Is Bechamel With Cheese! If you’re feeling fancy, you can call this Alfredo sauce by its classic French name: mornay sauce....
This easy creamy dip studded with bits of clams is given the Maryland treatment with the addition of Old Bay Seasoning. Cream cheese and sour cream make the base of the dip while tangy and spicy prepared horseradish, Worcestershire, lemon, shallots, chives, and parsley round it out making an extra special party dip. I suggest making it a day or two earlier which allows the flavors to meld and develop and for the dip to firm up....
Thick slices of bread, soaked in a mixture of beaten eggs with milk and cinnamon, toasted in a frying pan, and served with butter and maple syrup. This has to be one of our favorite, and most indulgent, breakfast dishes. Video: How to Make French Toast Best Bread for French Toast French toast comes out best if you work with thick slices of French or Italian loaf bread that are several days old....
Just cook the veggies in a foil packet and grill the steak alongside — dinner is ready in 10 minutes! My kids are usually good with steak and tacos, so I figured this would be an easy win at my house. Of course, the trick is to master the serving of the dinner—not the dinner itself! Putting the Easy in Easy Steak Fajitas I like to cook the veggies in a foil packet because you can assemble it in advance and just toss them on a hot grill when you’re ready....
It’s All in the Seasoning This rendition of a cucumber salad is livened up with a couple tablespoons of everyone’s favorite garnish—everything bagel seasoning. This clever spice mix—dried onions, dried garlic, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds—is an easy way to add savory, bagel-adjacent flavors to anything you fancy. I usually buy it at Trader Joe’s, though it’s available in most grocery stores. Everything in this Cucumber Salad I’d recommend using Persian cucumbers for this salad because they’re more flavorful, less watery, and have thinner, smoother skin in comparison to English cucumbers....
How To Make the Best French Onion Soup There are two essential components of a good French onion soup. The first is the stock. Your soup will only be as good as the stock you are using. This soup traditionally is made with beef stock, though sometimes a good beef stock can be hard to come by and expensive to make. If you use boxed stock, taste it first! If you don’t like the taste, don’t use it....
I recall being served fried tomatoes for breakfast once, but they weren’t green. Yes, You Can Make Fried Green Tomatoes! Curious as usual, we found some big green tomatoes at the farmers market last weekend and just had to try these fried green tomatoes. What follows is how to make fried green tomatoes that even first-timers can manage with great success. The verdict at this house? Yum! What a great way to make use of early-season tomatoes....
Those days are the reason I keep a bag of shrimp in the freezer. Shrimp quickly defrost in cold water and cook in only a few minutes. My favorite way to cook shrimp is to stir-fry it, just barely enough to cook it through. Too much cooking and you end up with something rubbery and dry. This stir-fry shrimp is perfect for a quick midweek meal. You marinate the shrimp in a soy sauce mixture with ginger, sesame oil, garlic, and rice vinegar, and then cook it on almost-smoking high heat for just a couple of minutes....
The combination of lemon rind, candied ginger, molasses, and cloves ensures these easy-to-make cookies are requested for every holiday dessert bar. The sparkly sugar coating balances the spice from ginger in these little gems. Make the dough weeks in advance and freeze it. Then slice and bake as you need them! What Is an Icebox Cookie? Like many butter-based cookies, icebox cookies start by creaming butter and sugar together, adding egg and then flour, along with any spices or flavorings....
I hope so, because that’s exactly what is happening with these ginger scones. My brother’s girlfriend Shelley brought a batch by the other day and I couldn’t stop eating them. She had fallen in love with ginger scones at a local bakery and balked at paying $5 a piece for them, so came up with her own terrific recipe. These scones are dotted with sweet bits of candied ginger, and there is some lemon zest for a little lemony kick as well....
We still don’t eat much wheat around here. Many of the pasta recipes we make with rice pasta. The hard thing is finding good gluten-free baked goods. So many of them really taste awful, the consistency of sawdust. Fortunately, the wheat/gluten alternative flours appear to be improving. I found a bag of Wheat and Gluten Free Baking Flour from Bob’s Red Mill in the health food section of our local grocery store and decided to try it out on a batch of pumpkin cupcakes....
Not the wonderfully complex authentic enchiladas from Mexico, but the cheesy American casserole version my mom made for us growing up. Just smelling the tortillas being lightly fried (to soften them so they roll up easily), and my tummy will leap for joy knowing that enchiladas will be ready shortly. We always make enough for leftovers because as my father will happily tell you, there is nothing better than my mom’s enchiladas re-heated for breakfast....
