During this time of quarantine, in the height of a global pandemic, we can make good meals with what we have on hand: canned tuna, pasta, chicken, potatoes, butter, jarred olives, spices. As a food blogger and a cookbook author, my job is recipes. I spend a good number of my days writing lists of ingredients, measurements, and instructions. As a home cook though, I am led by desire, taste and the seasons. I rarely follow recipes, preferring instead to cook with abandon. I hardly ever make the same thing, in quite the same way, twice. Though, if it’s a dish that I think you’d like, or a family favorite…
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Pasta e ceci, which literally means pasta and chickpeas, is an essential one-pot Roman recipe, a cousin of pasta e fagioli, brimming with juicy tomatoes, tender chickpeas, hearty greens and pasta. Everything comes together in a simmering broth in just under an hour.
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It’s that time of the year when long-simmered soups, stews and chilies are my go-to recipes. My braising pots are on full rotation, as is my slow cooker. In keeping with the recipes of this blustery season, I’m sharing my Slow Cooker Pantry Chicken Chili recipe. This slow cooker recipe is quite literally a combination of pantry and freezer staples. I hardly ever make it the same way twice, so it can easily be adapted to suit whatever you have on hand.
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This part of New Jersey is home to one of the best fishmongers in the state. I’m thinking local blue claw crabs, snapper fish, clams and mussels. Seeing as though we have access to quality farm markets and butchers, I’m also thinking sweet corn, potatoes and sausage. To complete this feast, I’ll snip herbs from my kitchen garden and serve Jersey ale, being sure to fragrance the stock with some too. Last, but not least, I’ll add in good company and a hot August evening and we’ll have ourselves a Low-Country Boil. You might also know this as Frogmore Stew, Beaufort Stew, or simply seafood stew. Call it what you…
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Ultra creamy, made only with whole milk, heavy cream, vinegar and salt. If you’ve never made Homemade Ricotta Cheese before, you need to stop reading this right now and go to your refrigerator or your local market and grab whole milk, heavy cream, quality white wine vinegar, and a pinch of kosher salt. Snag some cheesecloth too, you can find that in the baking aisle. That’s all you’ll need. Come back when you have everything, I’ll wait right here…. Once you’ve made your own ricotta cheese, you’ll saunter by the imposters in the dairy aisle with a well-deserved swag. You will never want a supermarket brand again. Homemade ricotta cheese…
