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I couldn’t agree more. We have a thing for oxtails in our family. Oxtail stew was a favorite winter dish my mom prepared when we were growing up. What Are Oxtails? If you are unfamiliar with oxtails, they are tails of beef cattle (formerly only steers, now both male or female), typically sold cut into segments. Most of what you buy is bone, and the meat is well exercised and fatty, so oxtail preparations lend themselves to slow cooking....

In this recipe we purée raw parsley and green onions, which when mixed into the potatoes turn the mash a vibrant green. Perfect for a festive meal. You could also experiment with baby spinach, mint, or other greens. In fact, I added some fresh mint to one of the mashes I made and served it with lamb, it was lovely. Enjoy! Bring to a boil and reduce heat to maintain a low simmer....

Friends with cherry trees are good friends indeed, especially when they arrive with baskets filled to the brim! Mostly this is an opportunity to gorge, and engage in pit spitting contests. (I’m still mad that they’ve cross-bred the seeds out of watermelons, depriving me and thousands of kids of the summer rite of seed spitting, but am happy to engage with cherry pits.) But if you want get all grown up on us, you can do other things with fresh cherries—clafouti, cherry fro yo, and sweet cherry pie—or make a simple cherry salsa to accompany pork chops or pork tenderloin....

Enter the Hemingway Daiquiri. It’s light, perfectly balanced, sweet without being cloying, and, dare I say it, sophisticated. This is a drink that will make you think of the daiquiri in an entirely new way. The History of the Hemingway Daiquiri In some ways a Hemingway Daiquiri is similar to the more commonly known New Orleans-style slushee version: It contains rum, lime, sweetener, and it’s a pretty color. But the Hemingway Daiquiri has its own unique history....

After lunch, on my way out the door, I stopped the waitress to ask how they made it. She gave me a general idea, which I have attempted to recreate in the steps shown here. The diner version included a little touch of ground clove and cardamom if I recall correctly. I didn’t add those spices, without them the ginger ale still turned out just great! It’s quite easy to make....

Homemade root beer is easy to make! The predominate flavor comes from the roots of sassafras, which one boils with spices and molasses to make a sweet syrup. Sassafras grows wild all over the eastern United States and Canada and traditionally was the main root used for what we call root beer here. Root beer can be fermented, but my favorite method is what follows—kid-friendly, non-fermented, and non-alcoholic. Credit for the root beer goes to Hank Shaw who taught me all about how to make root beer from sassafras on one of his return trips from the east coast....

As with all elemental things, though, the simplicity of a baked potato is deceptive. We’ve all had excellent baked potatoes and terrible baked potatoes. Happily, an excellent one is not any harder to make than a terrible one. The right potato, the right temperature, and the right timing are key. There’s also some spirited jabbing with a fork involved. Get set to bake the best potatoes of your life!...

Where to Find the Best Pomegranates You can get them at most supermarkets. But if you live anywhere near where they are grown, it’s best to get them at a local farmer’s market. There, you are most likely to find the ripest pomegranates - the ones whose peels are beginning to crack open, their plump, ripe arils expanding beyond the peel’s ability to contain them. My parents have a big, beautiful pomegranate tree that fills with fruit every autumn....

Here’s why you should bake your bacon in the oven instead! Video: How to Make Easy Bacon in the Oven The Benefits of Oven-Baked Bacon As I see it, there are a few great reasons to bake bacon: So, yes—bake your bacon! The Best Bacon for Baking My preference is a center cut bacon, which has an even thickness width-wise. I generally don’t like to bake thick-cut bacon because it takes longer, but you can bake any bacon you want....

Originally from the oceanic South—Georgia, the Low Country coast of the Carolinas and Gulf Coast states all have their versions—this homey bowl of awesome was historically a simple fisherman’s breakfast: Grits, with some bacon and a few shrimp tossed on top. If you’ve ever eaten it, you can understand why shrimp and grits has burst from the seaside shrimp shanties. The Best Shrimp and Grits Recipe The grits are soft, buttery, and often cheesy, with a savory, bacon-studded sauce surrounding them, and lots and lots of shrimp....

I’ve tried microwaving on half-power to warm it up and also tried dunking the sealed package in a bowl of warm water. But I often end up with a melted cheese puddle with the former method and worry about package leaks with the latter. Here’s what I do instead. Using a stiff spatula, I spread the cream cheese into a thin layer on a plate or other flat surface. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap and set it somewhere warm, like next to a warm oven or radiator....

I’m not one for violence, but the last piece of pernil at my house has been known to provoke a scuffle or two. The biggest hurdle to overcome when making a succulent pernil is waiting for it to cook. The entire house fills with its aroma. “Hangry” attitudes emerge as stomachs twist into knots of anticipation. This speaks to how delicious pernil is and how much we love it....

Everybody should have a friend like Jim. He can swim a mile, bike thirty, and still have the energy to cook up a batch of his legendary hamburgers for his friends. Jim learned to cook from his mom and loves nothing more than to see everyone’s delighted faces as they bite into something delicious he’s prepared. Especially satisfying after a hard day of body-boarding and surfing are his hamburgers which are seasoned with fresh rosemary from the garden and A....

For this recipe, I use two smart shortcuts to make kuku sabzi. The herbs are chopped in a food processor instead of by hand and the kuku is baked in standard muffin tins, creating smaller portions. The whole dish comes together in 40 minutes. The freshness from the herbs, the tartness of the barberries, and the crunch from the walnuts make this a delightful meal to share with family alongside a salad, a creamy yogurt dip, and Persian flatbread like sangak, barbari, or lavash, or as part of a mezze platter....

Just vodka, lime juice, and a ginger beer pour-over and you have a simple drink for any season. If you’re not familiar with this icy beverage you probably recognize its characteristic serving vessel—the copper mug. Copper mug or not this vodka highball is utterly refreshing and easy to make for beginner mixologists. What is a Moscow Mule? The Moscow Mule belongs to a family of drinks called highballs, which just means the drink is more mixer than alcohol....

Mushroom caviar just sounds so much more catchy than “mushroom spread” or “minced mushrooms and shallots sautéed in butter,” doesn’t it? Even though that’s basically what it is—a vegetarian version of the real thing. The good news is that this mushroom caviar is terrific! Especially for those of us who love mushrooms. It’s a quick and easy spread for crackers, perfect for a gathering. Once the mushrooms have cooked for about 5 minutes, add the garlic and a tablespoon of dry white wine (if using)....

My pantry is always stocked with canned whole peeled tomatoes and diced tomatoes, which I use in soups and sauces regularly, especially in the winter when out-of-season fresh tomatoes are subpar. A few friends of mine, however, kept encouraging me to give canned cherry tomatoes a try, touting them as being even sweeter and juicier than what I usually have on hand. They were absolutely right. Canned cherry tomatoes taste like a burst of summer sunshine....