I am coming to rely more and more on my Emeril Agassi Air Fryer. It’s great for toasting bread, heating up meats and veggies, cooking chicken wings and most any chore you can assign. Recently, I saw a recipe for Fried Chicken in an air fryer – perhaps the ultimate test. I was not optimistic, but I bought a half dozen bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, my favorites for real fried chicken, and the air … [Read more...]

Smoked hams represent one of the great values in a grocery store and when they are on sale, you can stretch your grocery budget from here to Bermuda. Last week - in advance of Thanksgiving I assume - Food Lion had Smoked Butt Section Hams on sale. I bought a 7-pounder for about $10. That’s enough to feed me and Nancy for three weeks. In the next few days, we had roasted ham for dinner, slices for … [Read more...]

Remember when you were a kid and someone asked, “Which piece of chicken do you want?” A drumstick, right? We loved drumsticks when we were young, then our preferences gradually evolved to thighs, breasts, and wings – like Hot Wings at a sports bar. But you know what?Drumsticks are still as good as ever, they are easy to eat, they are inexpensive, and quite versatile when it comes to … [Read more...]

I used to fry turkeys. I had a big pot with a basket inside, a solid base for the pot and a flame thrower that would boil the peanut oil in a matter of minutes. I would inject a turkey, lower it in the oily cauldron and it would be done in about 40 minutes. And I have to say that a Deep-Fried Turkey is better – way better – than a turkey cooked in the oven. But frying a turkey created a mess – … [Read more...]

When I eat chicken – with the exception of a half a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken – I lose weight. Naturally, I try to eat chicken as often as possible, but in as many ways as possible – so I don’t get sick and tired of eating chicken. Chicken recipes, fortunately, don’t have to be fancy to be enjoyable. Recently, I did a simple chicken casserole dish with a twist, I had some buttermilk in the … [Read more...]

You can’t get it at Waffle House, you can’t get it at IHOP. In fact, you can’t get it at any restaurant that I know of. You can only get it at home. Biscuit Toast. It’s the perfect breakfast food straight out of your mom’s cookbook. You transform last night’s biscuits into a breakfast bonanza. You can use one of your biscuit halves to sop up the runny yellow from a fried egg or you can slather … [Read more...]

Hamburger Gravy and Mashed Potatoes: the ultimate in comfort food. Nothing fancy, just a scrumptious way to prepare a quick and easy dinner and one that will leave everyone at the table loosening up their belts a notch or two. The dish begins with a pound and a half of lean ground beef, I like the 93/7 blend. Break the hamburger into small pieces and put in a hot skillet with 2 cloves minced … [Read more...]

Some of the best recipes are simple, not only simple to prepare but simple in ingredients. Lemon Roasted Chicken is such a dish. The prep time is about five minutes, and the cooking time is about an hour, so how simple can it be? And it’s delicious. There are several variations to this recipe, but the best results come when the bird is cooked quickly in a relatively hot oven. Keep the … [Read more...]

I had to try it. My son Jimmie had told me that Chef Alton Brown’s secret to hard boiling and peeling fresh eggs was to leave the eggs on the counter for 24 hours before cooking. So I went to Wal-Mart, where the eggs would be the freshest, bought a dozen and left them out on the counter overnight. The next day, I put 10 fresh eggs in a pot and steamed them for 15 minutes, then dumped them in ice … [Read more...]

It’s October. The nights are getting chillier. After a long, hot summer, it’s time for some chili. Here is a recipe for a Chili Cheese Casserole that is perhaps the ultimate in comfort food. It comes together in about a half hour and will fill the hungriest belly. Kids, especially, love it. Here's how. Begin by putting 2 pounds of Tater Tots in the oven and cook according to instructions … [Read more...]