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.
-
-
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…
-
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…
-
I first experienced red wine pasta (yes, this dish is an experience) while in Tuscany. It was on a long drive to escape the rain that we came upon a small osteria, somewhere outside of Chianti. I’m still not entirely sure that it was open. However, we were seated and exchanged pleasantries in Italian. There was no menu. The old woman who greeted us might have also been the cook, I’m not entirely sure. She returned with two plates of the most gorgeous colored spaghetti I had ever seen.
-
Today I’m celebrating my part-Irish heritage by sharing my family’s recipe for Irish Cottage Pie. It’s March and for weeks now there’s been a battle of the wills between winter and spring. A few days ago we were graced with warm slow winds, the kind that billows the curtains just enough to carry the scent of the new grass. That evening, the icy and cutting breath of winter returned and dumped 4 inches of snow. The expected forecast for this week is another foot of snow or more… For me that means comfort food.
