Safe Seafood Preparation – What do I need to know? A frequent cooking class guest of mine recently mentioned that she had never prepared ceviche or tuna tartar because she wasn’t certain about how to do it safely, what did she need to know? I thought that was a perfect opportunity to showcase as one of my Facebook Live shows … Read More
Grilled Summer Corn Salad
This past weekend in my “Fresh from the Market” class here in Savannah, I had a guest who said that “Blue Rhino” is one of his most commonly used ingredients when cooking (in other words he grills everything!). Nothing wrong with that…there are great meals to be had from the grill, not just this time of year but year round. … Read More
Yogurt Panna Cotta with Orange-Scented Strawberries
Strawberries are in full swing! Sure, strawberries are available in the grocery store year round but if you want sweet juicy berries you’d better make the most of them now. Anything in season will always be better than those shipped from further afield, even if it’s in season where it’s being shipped from. The closer to the grower the food … Read More
Tips for Making Yeast Dough
While one cannot live on bread alone, it certainly makes life more enjoyable. Who doesn’t love biting through a crunchy crust and sinking your teeth into a nice tender interior crumb? How about that tug and resistance you get when you bite into a pizza or tear off a piece of baguette? Lately, a friend of mine has been playing with … Read More
Muscadine Grapes in Port Wine Syrup
Each fall here in the southeast you’ll find cartons of giant purple grapes with a very thick skin called Muscadines. They are part of the family of “slip-skin” grapes, as are their green-gold cousins the Scuppernong, and Concord grapes from the northeast. “Slip-skin means” that the flesh can be easily popped out of the skins by squeezing the side of … Read More
The Great Pumpkin
As the days shorten and grow cooler, the autumn months are one of my favorite. Perhaps it’s the respite from the heat of summer, the new season of vegetables and cooler weather that inspire “comfort cooking”, or a combination of both. For some people I think it’s the “routine” that we often fall into this time of year. That annual … Read More
Cooking with Wine
What kind of wine should I use when I’m cooking? As Julie Andrews once sang: “Let’s start at the very beginning…” : Do not use “cooking wine”. Look next to the vinegars in any grocery store and you’ll find an array of bottles labeled “white cooking wine”, “Cooking Sherry”, “Cooking Marsala”, etc. The reason they are not sold in the … Read More
Tomato Time
I figured an appropriate follow-up to the previous discussion on “TomatoLand” would be one featuring what else…tomatoes! It’s mid-summer and the tomatoes are popping off the plants! If you’re not growing them yourself then try to get them from a farmstand or farmer’s market for the best flavor. Here in the Savannah area the best tomatoes (and peaches) are … Read More
Tomatoland
If you’ve ever joined me for one of my cooking classes here in Savannah or elsewhere, no doubt you’ve probably heard one of my tirades about the taste (or rather the lack thereof) of grocery store tomatoes. If you haven’t heard my “lecture”, here’s the point: Tomatoes WILL NOT RIPEN once they’ve been picked. Sure, I know you’ve set them … Read More
Wild Shrimp Woes
A perk of living in the Low Country region is having access to fresh sweet wild shrimp. Outside of shrimping regions there is little choice but to purchase frozen or previously frozen shrimp. That’s ok..no need to feel bad about it, that’s just the reality of enjoying a food item not from your particular region. Whether fresh or frozen, try … Read More