How Do You Make Shrimp Etouffee? Well, Cher, First You Make A Roux….

Now you see why I had to explain to y’all how to go about making a roux. Because if you don’t know how, the first sentence of most etouffee recipes will not make a damned bit of sense to you, whether they are in many Cajun-Creole cookbooks or they are coming from the mouths of […]

Pork and Apple Enchiladas Verde Casserole

Apples are gloriously in season this month; at our farmers market, a double handful of varieties are currently available, including two of my favorites, MacIntosh and Jonathan. MacIntosh apples, in fact, were the first apples I introduced Zak to in order to convince him that he really liked apples. He was convinced for years that […]

Saturday Dinner: Sort-Of, But Not Quite Pork Chops, Applesauce and Mashed Potatoes

I didn’t really know what to call this post, really, because the dinner came out of improvisation on the theme of a many a childhood dinner in West Virginia: pan-fried pork chops served with applesauce on the side, with mashed potatoes and some sort of green vegetable (usually cooked from a vibrant verdant beauty into […]

A Meditation on Heads-On Shrimp: To Suck, Or Not To Suck?

Aren’t they so pretty? They look like a pile of tiny dragons to me–all fierce with pointy scarlet and pinkcarapaces and claws and long graceful antennae. I can easily imagine them soaring among the roiling clouds of a thunderstorm, tossing balls of shimmering blue lightening back and forth at each other, their tails curling up […]

Wholly Vegetarian Refried Beans (Which Taste Like They’ve Been Cooked With Pork)

I grew up eating lots and lots of dried beans, simmered on low heat all day, in a big pot, seasoned with a ham hock. My favorites were pinto beans, which were usually served in a bowl with diced raw onions on top and cornbread on the side. They may or may not have had […]

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