If you had your choice between cooking with anything you wanted or being presented a limited pantry, which would you choose? Which do you think would make you more creative? Just last week I was talking to someone about this very topic. We both agreed that cooking straight from the pantry without making a trip to the store usually resulted … Read More
Spanish Paella
While I don’t particularly care for the extreme heat this time of year, one thing I do love are the endless opportunities for creativity provided by the variety of seasonal ingredients. Appetite wise, I also find that this time of year my tastebuds tend to favor a more Mediterranean flavor. Perhaps it’s the fact that so many wonderful ingredients typical … Read More
Osso Buco
One of the more popular hands-on classes that I’ve taught both here in Savannah as well as other places around the country, has involved the cuisine of northern Italy. Just like the United States, regional cuisines of other countries vary with the climate and geography. In the U.S. the concept of “Italian Food” is born from the eating styles of … Read More
Green Tomato Pie
Traditionally this time of year the gardens are either winding down from summer crops or bearing their bounty with fall vegetables like pumpkins, winter squash and other fall produce. Soon northern areas will be getting their first frosts and tomatoes that haven’t had time to ripen will be lost…or not. Thanks to the popular movie by the same name, most … Read More
Fried Green Tomatoes with Crab Salad & Chow Chow Relish
This is a recipe that I recently created to feature as my tasting at the 10th Annual “Delicious Destinations” gala to benefit the St. Vincent’s Health Foundation of Jacksonville, FL. Even if you’re not a tomato lover I would encourage you to give fried green tomatoes a shot. The flavor is nothing like a ripe tomato. Green tomatoes used for … Read More
Special Event: Saltus River Grill – Beaufort, SC
Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of meeting Pat Branning, the food editor of the Beaufort Tribune. when she came to participate in one of my classes. She’s just recently published a beautiful hardcover book that highlights many of the Low Country inspired recipes that she’s collected and created over the years. In addition to Low Country inspired recipes, … Read More
Gazpacho al Andaluz
It was another hot and steamy day here in Savannah and based on this summer’s weather patterns, it probably was where you are too. For supper tonight I enjoyed a big bowl of refreshingly cold and flavorful “Gazpacho al Andaluz”. (ok, truth be told…in true bachelor style there was no actual bowl involved, I ate direct from the plastic storage … Read More
Take a Dip or Dress it up: Romesco Sauce
Here are a couple of ideas for using the recipe for Romesco Sauce which I recently posted. These are just a few of many uses. After seeing my post, Jeff Parker a chef friend and fellow blogger, said he was thinking of using it as a pizza sauce…olives, cheese, anchovies…good stuff just waiting to happen! Suggestion #1: Use as a … Read More
Romesco Sauce
Heavily influenced by the Moorish rule of the Iberian Peninsula from 711ad to 1492AD, the cuisine of Spain incorporates many influences from both the Arab world as well as the new world. Moors (a collective term for both the Arabs and Berbers that invaded and ruled the Iberian peninsula) are credited with introducing many of characteristic ingredients to this region … Read More
Easy As…Tomato Pie!
In the grand Southern tradition of using what is fresh from the garden and mixing it with some form of fat…I present to you: Tomato Pie. Okay, to be truly “southern” you’ll have to work on the pronunciation of “pie” (draw it waaaaaaaay out) but we won’t get hung up on that. If you aren’t familiar with Southern cooking, tomato … Read More