Call it poached or call it boiled; if you can boil water, you can say bye-bye to paying through the beak for prepared grocery store or deli chicken. If you want to make chicken stock, buy a whole chicken and cut it up; if you just want to cook some chicken breasts for salads or entrees, that’s fine too. But for stock or dumplings, you … Continue reading Basic Chicken/Stock/Chicken Salad
This is the bread that made one of Carla’s roommates come running through the front door yelling, “What are you cooking? The whole house smells amazing!” Carla varies this recipe from time to time, adding cinnamon or nutmeg if she feels like it. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a tube or Bundt pan, or two loaf pans. Mix flour, sugar and baking … Continue reading Banana Sour Cream Pound Cake Bread
There are three kinds of people in this world – those who like cornbread savory, crumbly and dry, those who like a sweet, cake-like cornbread, and those who like a cornbread with the best attributes of both. This is for the third group. Heat oven to 400 degrees; generously butter a 9×9 pan. Mix dry ingredients together in bowl. Beat eggs until frothy, then add … Continue reading Millionaire Cornbread
I’m going to break one of the rules of the trade here. I’m going to tell you some of the secrets of improvisation. Just remember—it’s always a good idea to follow the directions exactly the first time you try a recipe. But from then on, you’re on your own. – James Beard Continue reading food quote for the new year
This recipe is a work in progress. Carla is still trying to get it close to tasting like the mousse served at Kansas City’s old Californos restaurant; the first time she and a friend ordered it, they wolfed it down until there were only smears of it left in the serving dish. When the waiter tried to take the dish away, they nearly rapped the waiter’s knuckles and made him leave it on the table; they ended up scraping the last of the mousse off the sides of the dish with their fingers. Continue reading Shrimp and Salmon Mousse
We’d forgotten about this dip, and were delighted to find the recipe when we were digging through old recipe boxes to find our favorites for this book. Wow, is it good. Continue reading Shrimp Dip
The vivid red and green layers make this great for the Christmas holidays, and also as an appetizer for an Italian dinner party. Continue reading Layered Red and Green Pesto with Cream Cheese
Here’s a forgotten recipe from the 1960s. Why did we stop making this when it tasted so good? Continue reading Beef and Cheese Ball
Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. – Michael Pollan Continue reading food quote of the day
Heat oven to 450 degrees. In small bowl, combine ham, cheese, pineapple, onions and mustard; mix well. From each pie crust, cut 8 two-inch rounds and 8 three-inch rounds. Press the three-inch rounds into mini muffin pans; the edges should extend above the top edge of the cups. Fill cups with about 1 tablespoon of ham mixture. Brush edges of the crust cup with beaten … Continue reading Ham and Pineapple Puffs
Around Our Table 