Brownies are the universal dessert. You can serve them hot with vanilla ice cream as an elegant dish or hand them out like cookies and watch your guests enjoy. The children I cook for love brownies, no matter how they are served. I have two tips for would-be brownie chefs. First, buy a product called Brooklyn Brownie Copper by Gotham Steel and then use Betty Crocker Brownie Fudge Mix and you … [Read more...]

A number of years ago, there was a saying or an ad someplace that said, “Real men don’t eat quiche.” Being a real man, I didn’t eat it, though my wife Nancy loved it. However, being an amateur chef, I had to try my hand at a Quiche Lorraine and my version turned out so well that Nancy thinks it might even be better than her recipe. The word “quiche”, or so they believe, comes from the … [Read more...]

What, exactly, are rockfish, my friend Janice Kaltenbach wanted to know. She was confused about the terminology, reading somewhere that rockfish were native only to the Pacific. I explained that here in Virginia, as well as Maryland, some people refer to striped bass that are caught in saltwater as “rocks” or “rockfish”, while those same striped bass caught in freshwater are dubbed … [Read more...]

Striper (rockfish) season is upon us. In Virginia, the fall season kicks off on Oct. 4 and runs through the end of the year, giving Virginia anglers lots of opportunities to put a few of these – some of the best eating fish anywhere – on ice. Even if you don’t fish, stripers will soon be in the grocery stores and fish markets and here’s an interesting and different way to prepare them. Several … [Read more...]

When planning menus, I usually don’t have a problem with meats or the main course; it’s the sides that I struggle with. I get tired of tossed salads all the time, though they are good for you. Recently I tried a green pea salad and it tuned out well – a nice change of pace. There are many recipes for sweet pea salads, but I went for the quickest and easiest in preparation. I started with two … [Read more...]

I was poking around in the meat department at Kroger’s and saw a pack of Hormel Diced Ham. I thought at the time I might use it in a breakfast omelet, but I never got around to it. One night for dinner, with nothing in particular in mind, I saw the pack of ham in the fridge and decided to use it. So I created a concoction of Ham, Noodles and Cheese and it was scrumptious – the ultimate in comfort … [Read more...]

Nancy had said she wouldn’t be home for dinner that night and for me to fend for myself. Potential meals swirled around in my head and then I decided I would go to Bojangle’s and order a Fried Chicken Sandwich – nice and spicy. All day I thought about that sandwich, then I got a text from my wife saying she had her dates mixed up and would be home for dinner. Damn! I had wanted that sandwich, … [Read more...]

It was Friday, an obvious night to cook fish, so I went to the only grocery store in Charlottesville with a decent selection of seafood – Whole Foods. It’s a bear to get to the store off Hydraulic, find a parking place and squeeze through the crowded aisles, but I did, and then scoured the cases for my fish du jour. I was hoping to see some flounder, but I haven’t seen any fresh flounder in … [Read more...]

Go to almost any grocery store today, get down on your knees (it’s always on the lower shelves) and scan your eyes in all directions for a single can of tuna fish in oil. You may – just may - find one or two cans. Everything else is packed in water. Water is good for tuna fish when they swim, but it takes all the flavor away when the fish are packed in it. Vegetable oil, better yet, olive oil … [Read more...]