Cheap meat, great taste. It’s what braising is all about. I like the whole idea of taking a cheap cut of beef and making it taste fantastic. And braising brings bonuses like you get your vegetables and sauce/gravy at the same time.
Brazen braising
Bought in or sold out?
The Queen and I are really just bit players in the burgeoning network of foodies and friends of home cooking. But we’re sincere! As we go deeper into sources and tools and thinking about the world’s food system, we take baby steps toward a greater appreciation of the people, companies …
Dad’s granola
Two of the kids’ aunts both sent us home-made granola for Christmas a few years ago. Both versions were really good (how diplomatic) and opened our eyes to a better – and cheaper – way to do breakfast. This recipe is kid-friendly! Easy to remember amounts, easy mixing in a …
Sangria!
Summer means sangria and gazpacho and rhubarb at our house…and ice cream and burgers and sweet corn, and wow, what a great season! For sangria, slice in half an orange, a lemon, and a lime. Squeeze them dry into a large pitcher. Add 1/2 cup sugar, a BAY LEAF (yes, …
Cookoff chili
Mom gave me a great cookbook for Christmas some years ago that was full of the Best Recipes of 1999, according to someone. About the only thing I’ve made more than once is a chili recipe, although I’ve played with it to the point where it’s now another “standard fare” …
If all us fat people were lined up end-to-end…
I don’t usually shop at Wal-Mart on principle….As I was leaving, I thought, “All the food that it took to make all these people overweight would feed the people of Darfur for many years.”
To cook, perchance to lean…
Aye, there’s the rub! For anyone with Dad’s metabolism and penchant for rest rather than running, weight gain is an occupational hazard when it comes to cooking.
Dad’s Best Banana Bread
The best thing about banana bread may be what a great way it is to use up over-ripe bananas. Try this recipe even if you don’t have that problem.
Dad’s scrambled eggs
Everyone says these are really good scrambled eggs (even the kids). Tasty, fluffy, buttery, etc. So, they have become the gold standard around our house. The technique is the most important thing here. Better eggs really do taste better, I think. Better = organic, really free-range. Larger, darker-yellow yolks, no …
Apple pie
My beloved Scots-Irish grandmother was famous, at least in our family, for her apple pie. She made a pie, it seemed, every week or so until she was well into her eighties. Her pie, which I’ll cover in another post, was made with lard and only with Granny Smiths. It wasn’t too sweet or runny. It was a great, if rustic, pie, and unlike any pie I’ve had since.