February 18, 2023 Happy Mardi Gras! My friend Karen belongs to the Crescent City Dames krewe and their sashay was Friday in the French Quarter. We bundled up and walked down there to admire them-- The Quarter was packed, even though it was so cold that morning. It's going to be warmer over the weekend and I'm looking forward to catching a few beads. I had Mardi Gras in mind when selecting some of this week's recipes. The Shrimp Veracruz calls for cooking the shrimp separate from the sauce, so this could easily be ...Continue Reading

January 28, 2023 I was missing in action last week—it was my birthday and I gave myself some time off! Jim took me out for an excellent birthday dinner at Gianna, an excellent Italian restaurant in the Central Business District. It was a welcome break from the kitchen for me. For this week's recipes, I selected a classic Creole Italian dish, Creole Stuffed Eggplant. As written, it's baked in a casserole dish, but for a fancier presentation, microwave split eggplants a bit to soften them, scoop out the flesh, and ...Continue Reading

January 28, 2023 It's brisk in New Orleans this week, which is a nice change of pace. It's also full-on crawfish season in my world, as we work on our March/April issue, which always features lots of crawfish. Crawfish springrolls, dumplings, and crawfish queso all got tested out this week, and all were delicious. The test kitchen will be up and running all weekend too—Mardi Gras looms, and it can be difficult to get to some of the grocery stores from here once the parades start rolling. For this week's recipes, ...Continue Reading

January 13, 2023 I hope I never stop learning. I've been trying to master the art of making corn tortillas after eating really fresh ones on a trip to Mexico last year. I've never cared for the packaged corn tortillas you can buy, but freshly made are delicious. I bought a good tortilla press and the first batch I made was absolutely perfect-- beginner's luck, I guess. My next few batches failed miserably, so much so I had to send someone on an emergency trip to the grocery for flour tortillas the last time I att ...Continue Reading

January 6, 2023 Happy New Year, and Happy Carnival! Today is the first day of the 2023 Carnival season, and king cakes are being consumed all over the state. In case you can't get your hands on one locally, I've provided a link to a recipe below; I had good intentions for making one today, but the time got away from me. Maybe this weekend, or maybe I'll just buy one. In addition to the king cake, I've got a link for the local delicacy, Italian baked oysters; a good friend has just discovered that she seems to hav ...Continue Reading

December 16, 2022 Christmas is fast approaching and I'm not quite ready-- a lot to do this weekend! For the recipes this week, I definitely have feast food in mind. I've included Lydia Bastanovich's Italian-American meat lasagna recipe; it'll serve a crowd, and can be made and baked in advance, or put together the day of. If you do make it in advance, bring it out to come up to room temperature before re-heating in a low oven. Next, a dish full of fish and seafood that ticks off up to 4 items for your Feast ...Continue Reading

December 9, 2022 My friends at P&J Oyster Company reminded me last week that oyster season is in full swing, pointing out that I've not included oyster recipes lately. Sal & Al, this edition is for you! The manicotti I made this week was absolutely delicious. I may not ever make it again, because I entered the kitchen at 11:00 and didn't leave or sit down again until 4:00, but we really enjoyed them. My pasta had 2 whole eggs in it plus 6 egg yolks, so quite rich! For the oyster recipes this week, the Cream ...Continue Reading

December 2, 2022 I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving; we broke with tradition and went out to eat and unfortunately the meal wasn't that great. We probably won't do that again. I made a chicken & sausage gumbo with dry roux earlier this week, something I'd never done before. It was delicious and surprisingly light. The technique and recipe will be in the next edition of the magazine, along with a few other recipes lightened up a bit for the new year. Plenty that aren't lightened up, though, including the ...Continue Reading

November 18, 2022 Thanksgiving is here!  If you don't have your menu quite set yet, I have compiled a list of suggestions here. I already cooked Thanksgiving this year, so we're going out to eat. My key ingredient to a tasty Thanksgiving dinner is a basic turkey stock. It simmers on the stove all night, and we wake up to a house already filled with the aromas of Thanksgiving. I use it to flavor everything from green beans to the turkey gravy, and of course to baste the turkey. If there's any left over, ...Continue Reading

November 11, 2022 My usual pet sitter wasn't available to watch our cats when we were out of town last month, so three of my neighbors tag teamed and looked after them. I brought them all some Talavera pottery, and am having them over for dinner this weekend. I'm planning to put together a Mexican feast, with posole, several options for tacos, and a variety of salsas. Maybe a rice pudding for dessert; I don't know that I'm up for flan for 8 this weekend. For the recipes this week, I came across the roast salmon r ...Continue Reading