Italian Chicken Soup with Parmesan Dumplings
I had you at "parmesan dumplings," didn't I? You're not wrong, they are amazing. I felt the urge to make soup even though we are experiencing freakishly warm temperatures in Chicago lately. Like, 55 and sunny. In Chicago. The place they make tedious,...
Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen: Spring Pea Toasts with Lemon Olive Oil and Fresh Pea Shoots
I'm not going to lie to you: I made this way back in the spring when I was able to get fresh spring peas at the farmers' market (or as Miss Sarah says they're called in the south, English peas). But I might try them with regular frozen peas sometime because this is...
Mache and Avocado Salad with Tortilla Strips
This salad, from the August 2007 issue of Bon Appetit, has been one of my favorites for a long time. As you can guess, it is a great accompaniment to a Mexican main dish. Use it as a bed for leftover fajita chicken, or shrimp or pork and it becomes a main dish on...
French Bread Pizza
Children, in the 1970s when I was growing up things were different. As I'm sure you've heard, we had 3 t.v. stations, drank Tab, and rode around in gigantic cars with unused seat belts. But did you know that they sold cigarettes in vending machines, and that you...
Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen: Deviled Ham Salad and Pimento Cheese
These were both so very good, I honestly don't know which one I liked better. Miss Sara says that pimento cheese is a "Southern classic" and that Southerners are "passionate" about it. You should believe her because I'm beginning to understand that these people are...
Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen: Summer Corn Cakes with Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salad
The last time my sister (the soon-to-be-famous writer) was in town we ate at a wonderful place called Tweet and I knew she had out-ordered me when I tasted her arepas. They were heavenly corn pancakes served with salsa, black beans, avocado and sour cream. I may...
Chicken Fajitas
This has been a favorite of ours for a long time. The brilliant thing about the recipe is that it understands that chicken breasts are about as exciting as a Steven Raichlen marathon and one needs a pretty creative trick to overcome that. And the trick is this:...
