cheese

Indian Essentials: Paneer and Ghee

A couple of times a year, Todd and I go on an Indian food cooking extravaganza, prepping all sorts of curries and sauces that we can combine with veggies and use straight out of the freezer. This is a great time-saver because so many of the dishes we make have shared ingredients - there's an economy of scale to making several at once and packing the extra away for days when we have no time to cook, but enough time to reheat.

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Pao de Queijo, GF Brazilian Cheese Bread

Somehow along the way my brain got wired to the belief that all food has a Platonic ideal - that is, an ideal interpretation, a dictionary definition of the way a certain thing should be. With that intolerance for nonsense, I've always approached desserts and bread with a purist's eye. What's the point of making a chocolate dessert if you have to substitute something for the chocolate, sugar, or flavor? To me, changing an essential quality of anything is like rerouting a river. We can try to change the boundaries, but why? Well for one, not everyone has a choice in the matter.

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Chile Cheese Skillet Cornbread

If you grow up in Texas, cornbread's in your genes. Whether in a skillet, moistened as dressing at Thanksgiving, or eaten cold with sugar and milk for breakfast, it shows up everywhere, all the time. And when you eat it that much, somehow you learn to make it work. I had to do just that when I had a hankering for jalapeno cheese cornbread (to go with our smoked ribs) and found I was out of a whole host of pantry goods, including cornmeal.

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Cheddar and Scallion Biscuits with Ham

A well-balanced meal doesn't always mean protein, vegetables, and a starch. Sometimes balance is more about evoking a place or a feeling - thoughtful food that's playful and plays well together is how balance presents in our kitchen.

It all started with a mention of the Derby. I had a friend who attended one year - seersuckered and bourboned to the gills, his stories or food, drink, and carousing rivaled the best Big Easy tales. Hats and juleps the norm, the smell of cigars permeated everything.

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