Not long ago I was trying to come up with a different appetizer to serve guests. I remembered ordering ribs as appetizers at nicer Chinese Restaurants, so I picked up a rack of ribs, sliced them into individual portions, cooked them at a low temperature for a several hours and they were a huge hit. Everybody loved them. Since then, I have been cooking all my ribs that way. I pull off the membrane, … [Read more...]

Okay, guys. Don’t let your wives see this article. They think we are a bunch of dumb bunnies and can’t cook our way out of a Kroger’s grocery bag. We’ll show ‘em. Ladies often go into the kitchen to make special stuff – jellies, cookies, cakes, candy and the like. They take out every possible pot and pan along with every spice in the rack to create their concoctions. We, of course, are thankful … [Read more...]

I fixed a Gallete de Poulet Marsala this week and it was excellent. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Actually, Gallete de Poulet is a rough French translation for a Chicken Patties which I made and served with a creamy Marsala sauce. Ground chicken, by itself, is not very sexy sounding, nor is the final product – “Oh, we’re having chicken patties tonight.” But ground chicken patties are … [Read more...]

It’s Barbeque season. Time to wield the tongs over hot coals or gas burners and chickens are historically the most popular barbeque-ees. I have been barbequing chicken on the grill to various degrees of edibility for over 50 years. It is one of the first things I learned – or attempted to learn - to cook. Some of it has been really good, while other attempts turned out more like … [Read more...]

We eat a lot of Barbeque, mainly pork and chicken. Recently, I had a craving for some beef barbeque. Not sure about what kind or how, I made a visit to my local Food Lion from whence come many of my culinary inspirations. Sure enough, I saw some boneless chuck rib meat. It appeared to be beef short ribs with the bones removed. Problem solved. I suppose most any cut of chuck roast or steaks would … [Read more...]

My wife Nancy makes the best Cole Saw in North America – maybe South America, too, assuming they make Cole Slaw. I had a request recently to print her recipe and she agreed. As with all good cooks, Nancy uses the taste test when making her Cole Slaw, adding stuff as needed and she recommends that others do the same. Some may like slaw a little sweeter, for example. Taste and see. Start with a … [Read more...]

There are two things I most remember about evaporated milk. First, it was the creamer for my mom and dad’s morning coffee. There was always a little can of Carnation Evaporated Milk in the refrigerator with two small holes punched in the top, and my folks used that along with some sugar for their coffee. The second memory involves my Uncle Jim’s recipe for homemade ice cream. Instead of milk … [Read more...]

It’s almost strawberry season. My little backyard patch is blooming, and the grocery stores are receiving daily shipments of luscious, red-ripe strawberries. It’s hard to go wrong with strawberries – eat ‘em plain, in short cakes, over ice cream - it’s all good. But recently I saw a recipe for Strawberry Puff Pastry Tarts and since I had some Puff Pastry in my freezer, I decided to give it a go. … [Read more...]

One of the easiest and best received entrees of all is a whole, roasted chicken. When you serve one, it’s like a Mini-Thanksgiving dinner. Increasingly, people just pick up a whole rotisserie bird from Sam’s or Costco and hope they haven’t been languishing under the heat lamps too long. I like to do my own birds. Cooking a whole chicken is not rocket science. Just make sure the chicken is done … [Read more...]

I have written about my love for split chicken breasts in the past. They are far and away the best buy of any white meat chicken. Boneless, skinless loins can be tough, dry and tasteless – plus they are expensive. You pay several dollars extra a pound to have the butcher peel off the skin and remove the small bone. With skin-on, bone-in split chicken breasts you can remove skin and bones after … [Read more...]