Archive for the Category » Vegetables «
01
Apr 2011
Apr 2011
The weather’s been funky around here this week and I have a bad case of cabin fever. But the forecast calls for sun this afternoon (fingers crossed), so I’m heading outdoors! This Finger Food Friday I’m going to be grilling a big platter of stuffed mini peppers and kicking back on the deck with a bunch of ice cold brews. That should get me out of my funk. I’m not sure what I’ll ultimately end up drinking this evening though, because I’ve just stumbled upon a couple of really good ales. One’s a Double Red Ale (Shark Attack, Port Brewing, [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Vegetables
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays Comments off
30
Mar 2011
Mar 2011
The first time I cooked ratatouille was on August 20, 2005. Do you want to know how I remember that date? Well, it was my son’s and brother’s birthdays. But that’s not how. It’s not because of my sharp memory either–I lost that sometime between kid number two and kid number three. I remembered that date because it was jotted down next to the recipe’s ingredient list. I scribble all over the pages of my cookbooks and recipes. My notes helps me remember if I liked a particular dish and if I made any changes to it. It’s [ ... ]
18
Mar 2011
Mar 2011
In case you woke up in a fog today, which is normally how our first week of Daylight Savings Time ends, it’s Finger Food Friday! And since tomorrow is St. Joseph’s Day and St. Joseph is one of the most beloved saints among Italian-Americans, I’m stuffing artichokes. This peculiar looking vegetable is an integral part of the New Orleans diet thanks to the huge population of Sicilians who settled in the City many moons ago and stuffing them is one of my favorite ways to pay homage to my other roots–my Italian roots. Remember yesterday? I mentioned I was half [ ... ]
08
Feb 2011
Feb 2011
This jalapeno-spiked vegetable medley is one of my summer essentials. But I can’t wait another four months to enjoy it, especially when Kroger’s zucchini and peppers are looking so good. So I’m sharing it with you now. I just hope you don’t forget about it when the warmer months roll around.
For this quick saute I borrowed some delicious ideas from the good old, all-American chopped salad and our local butcher shop that sells a similar side dish in its prepared foods section. The key here is uniformity. Cut all the vegetables the same size. I use the corn kernel as [ ... ]
21
Jan 2011
Jan 2011
Do you know what I love more than mashed potatoes? Baked Mashed Potatoes! That’s not our family’s official name for them. Come to think of it, we don’t have an official name. We simply call it “mom’s mashed potatoes.” Our entire clan knows what that refers to: creamed potatoes spiked with tiny bits of chopped onions, blanketed with lots of cheddar cheese and baked until irresistibly gooey. What sets this recipe apart from the rest is the fresh, chopped yellow onions we fold into the potatoes. The subtle crunch and burst of pungent flavor really makes this family favorite stand [ ... ]
01
Jan 2011
Jan 2011
Smothered cabbage is a common New Orleans side dish. We were all force-fed some version of it when we were little. And while most of my friends gagged at the mere thought of it, I was one of those weird kids who loved it. Cabbage, especially when pan-fried by my mom or cooked down with pickle meat by my great-grandmother, ranked high on my list of favorite veggies. So in honor of my childhood and with ritualistic promises of health and wealth, I’m ushering in 2011 with an unusual twist on Grandma Kirn’s homey, belly-warming meal. It’s not fancy [ ... ]
24
Dec 2010
Dec 2010
Until recently, we celebrated Christmas back home in New Orleans. The upside: being with family and enjoying all the wonderful holiday traditions we grew up with. The downside: orchestrating Santa’s arrival in another city! Now, for obvious reasons, we have Christmas in Georgia. It’s bittersweet. While we love waking up in our own home on Christmas morning, we all miss sharing this special day with the rest of our family. So I’ve begun a few new holiday rituals to keep homesickness at bay. For one, we party on Christmas Eve just [ ... ]
Category: Christmas, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Vegetables
Tags: mirliton, Shrimp Recipes, tasso 3 Comments
10
Nov 2010
Nov 2010
In my kitchen, broccoli is the chicken of the vegetable world. It’s available year-round, relatively inexpensive, versatile and easy to prepare. So we eat a lot of it around here. Okay, that’s not a honest statement. I eat a lot of it. My husband and kids, well, they favor the simple preparation of steamed or gently boiled broccoli drizzled with olive oil and dusted with kosher salt. That’s all good, but it gets boring after a while. So I occasionally push them beyond their broccoli comfort zones with preparations like this one.
Broccoli au Gratin is about as fancy as a [ ... ]
Category: Christmas, Roux, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Vegetables
Tags: Bechamel Sauce, Broccoli, Home Cooking, White Roux 2 Comments
