I love living in the same town as Mrs. Mildred Council, an inspiration for chefs, home cooks, kids and anybody with a dream of making a go of it in the business world by doing what she loves to do. Mama Dip's Kitchen on Rosemary Street here in Chapel Hill, NC, is my go-to breakfast place, whether I'm looking for country ham with ...
Main Course
Shrimp Fried Rice
For busy-day cooking, or spur-of-the-moment simple satisfying suppers, fried rice is my go-to good-food-fast solution. For me, fried rice is as easy as making a sandwich! You may or may not get to that point in your kitchen journey, but even if you cook fried rice as an occasional item, you'll find it's a fantastic template to enjoy and vary to ...
Lemongrass Chicken: So good you’ll want to grow lemongrass at home…
Fresh lemongrass was once an extra-trip Asian ingredient, available only in Asian markets which catered to a Southeast Asian community of cooks. These days, it's more widely available around the USA in many supermarkets and farmer's markets. Here in North Carolina, several local grocery stores carry it year round, usually imported from Mexico or ...
Blackberry Roly Poly for #summerdessertweek
Sweet, ripe, and juicy blackberries say Summertime, and this old-time favorite recipe shows them off beautifully. Blackberry Roly Poly is fun to say, fun to make, and fun to share at any summertime celebration! This post and recipe were created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are ...
Farewell to A Chef’s Life
Tonight you can watch "A Chef's Life" Harvest Special, celebrating the Series Finale for this beloved PBS television show. Chef Vivian Howard welcomes us to her kitchen, restaurant (The Chef and the Farmer), and Eastern NC home to remember five fabulous seasons and toast the memories with friends and family. Airing 9:00 pm Monday 10/21 on ...
Southern Tomato Pie from Chef Ashley Christensen
Savory and satisfying, Southern Tomato Pie brings the smiles and why not? When you pile summer's ripe, juicy tomatoes, fresh basil, mayo, and gooey cheddar cheese into a buttery, flaky piecrust, people feel hungry and happy fast. Easy, cheesy, and simple to prepare, it's the best make-ahead party recipe I know. You bet it's on my go-to ...
Good News from Thailand: Chaiyo! for Cave Rescue
What joy in hearts, all around the world, to see the terrifying, seemingly hopeless ordeal of the Wild Boars soccer team members, trapped deep underground with ever rising dangers and few reasons to hope for a happy ending. And yet....and yet...so many people, from the boys and their coach, to the local and national community of Thai ...
Slow-Cooker Red Curry Lentil Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Cauliflower
This slow cooker red curry lentil stew with sweet potatoes and cauliflower is winter dinner gold. Easy to put together on a winter night, it's enough to feed a crowd with plenty to freeze for later. So good you won't mind adding it to your weekly meal plan to enjoy on more than one evening. Lentils are lovely --- I enjoy them in every form, and ...
Sunday Suppers: Cynthia Graubart’s Cookbook Shows the Way
Do you have good memories of regular family meals, gathered around the table, but find it difficult to make that happen nowadays? For many of us, it's a scene we'd love to see, but the logistics, the preparations, the decisions and the details sink the idea before we even get started. That's why Cynthia Graubart wrote her latest cookbook: Sunday ...
Red Beans and Rice
When laundry was a weekly task done by hand, it took all day and then some, so the astute cooks of New Orleans tended to start a big pot of red beans cooking low and slow, so that a low-fuss feast woud be ready when it came time to eat. People still love red beans in New Orleans and environs, and enjoy this satisfying classic on other days and many ...
Red Shrimp Curry over Instant Ramen
I love instant noodles, from their curlicue shape and economical price to their adaptability and quiet, time-insensitive presence on the pantry shelf. I like how the square stack unravels and swells up in boiling water, turning from serious square to tempting tangle of chewy goodness. The not-so-great part is the soup packet enclosed, which is ...
Italian Sausage Soup with White Beans and Collard greens
So many good things come from my visits to the farmers' market --- and the fresh, local produce and products are only the start. This substantial, supremely satisfying soup recipe came home with me on a bright, golden-colored piece of paper, shared with me at the Carrboro Farmer's Market by my friends Portia McKnight and Flo Hawley, the ...
Chicken Legs with Tomatoes and Basil, the Jamie Oliver Way
This recipe of Chicken Legs with Tomatoes and Basil caught my attention recently when I was noodling around on Food 52's Genius Recipe section. So much goodness there: Simple, straightforward do-able recipes yielding excellent results, usually without fussiness, ingredients challenges, or demand for extensive attention. Translation: Busy weeknight ...
Stir-Fried Chili Scallops with Baby Bok Choy for #WokWednesdays
This tasty explosion of color and flavor made me regret all the Wok Wednesdays I've been missing in the hurly-burly of the last few months. As always, focusing in on one recipe from Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge by the amazing and brilliant Grace Young gave me knowledge, pleasure, and a superb dinner for my family and me. It was a busy weeknight, ...
Thai-Inspired Roast Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
When I read about the FoodBlogSouth2013 Telephone Game, I raised my hand as fast as I could. Who wouldn't want to cook along with a slew of like-minded, blogging, experimenting fellow food writers, connect to FoodBlogSouth, and learn from the Grand Dame, Fairy Godmother, and Resident Generous Genius of Southern Cuisine, Nathalie Dupree? "Mastering ...
Wok Wednesdays: Chinese Trinidadian Stir-Fried Shrimp with Rum
My third time around on the #WokWednesdays merry-go-round is a generous and colorful dish which we paired with rice for a one-dish meal. Like our last recipe, this dish took some prep time, chopping and measuring out the ingredients; but with that done, the cooking-to-serving-platter time shrinks to under ten minutes, and the results were lucious ...
Son-In-Law Eggs for My First #LetsLunch
Son-In-Law Eggs for My First #LetsLunch What a treat and an honor to join the #LetsLunch folks for the first time. Eggs symbolize beginnings, so I'm taking this theme a little bit personally, since I am lunching with you for the first time. I cooked us up a batch of Son-In-Law Eggs, a traditional Thai with-rice dish. It's a party dish beloved ...
Shaking Beef with Peppery Watercress
Photograph by Colin Erricson, Copyright 2007. This recipe comes from my biggest cookbook, 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes, published by Robert Rose, Inc., 2007. You could cook it in a heavy skillet, a frying pan, or a wok. While stir-fries often need a large, deep pan with room for tossing and turning all the ingredients, this one needs only a ...
Stir-Fried Chicken with Sweet and Hot Peppers
With school back in session here in North Carolina, and farmer's markets making room for kale, pumpkins, and scuppernong grapes, the produce party we enjoy all summer long is winding down. We're feasting on the last fantastic vine-ripened tomatoes, on tomato sandwiches, in salads with the last of the lettuce or in Bill Smith's famous tomato and ...
Lemongrass Chicken: So good you’ll want to grow lemongrass at home…
Nancie's Lemongrass Chicken, made with chicken thighs, shallots, garlic, fresh lemongrass and a small splash of coarsely ground dried red chilies Fresh lemongrass was once an extra-trip Asian ingredient, available only in Asian markets which catered to a Southeast Asian community of cooks. These days, it's more widely available around the USA in ...
Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Shredded Cabbage and Fresh Mint
Like chicken soup, chicken salads have a place of everyday honor in cuisines around the world. I adore the mayonnaise-dressed versions of my Southern childhood (and adulthood), but I'm in love with this Vietnamese take on the cool-chicken off-the-bone dish, with its ribbons of crisp raw cabbage, fish-sauce/pepper kick, and bright refreshing ...
Taiwan’s Beef Noodle Soup: Just one of countless reasons to love and follow “Eating Asia”
If it weren't for "Eating Asia" the food words-and-photography genius-team of Robyn Eckhardt and David Hagerman, we would still have a grand and tasty time in Taiwan, but we would not feast in nearly the frequent, magnificient, knowledgable, and varied way we do thanks to their work. Not only can you click your way to Asian food heaven by reading ...
A Saint Patrick’s Day Supper: Colcannon with Sausage and Fried Apples
For an end-of-winter, hello-springtime supper with a bit of Irish flavor, the classic mash of potatoes and winter greens known as colcannon is a lovely way to go. Though its only holiday association is a Halloween connection rather than Saint Patrick's Day proper, it's a simple, satisfying dish to enjoy for fun today, and then add to your weeknight ...