One of the things I love about cooking is that inspiration can come from almost anywhere. Recently, I saw a recipe in PureWow that touted a grown up Mac 'n Cheese made with minimal dairy adapted from a version served by super-chef Jason Neroni, at his LA hotspot, Superba Snack Bar. Neroni used ...
Sides
Mardis Gras – Vegan Style!
When I reminded my sweet husband two days ago that today would be Mardi Gras, and that I planned to make a Cajun dish and we would celebrate wearing beads – he looked at me like I was nuts! He told me that our son was in college and that he assumed I only created these celebratory dinners in the ...
Mardi Gras is One Week Away – Make my Vegan Gumbo!
We love Mardi Gras in our home! Even though traditional versions of Gumbo and Jambalaya have lots of meat, that has never stopped us from enjoying them. I made a delicious version of the Gumbo from my book, Fool a Carnivore, this past weekend and discovered that I had neglected to tell you ...
Be Good to your Basil this Weekend
As summer fades into fall, don’t forget about your precious basil plants. If they are starting to flower and turn woody, you may still be able to get several more weeks of good production if you act now. Go out to your garden and pinch back all of the flowering tops. My plants are enormous by this ...
Two Inch Okra and a Hot Tip
For those of you who want to make jambalaya, gumbo, or other Cajun favorites, look for two-inch okra in your local farmers' markets. Mid-to-late August is prime okra time here in the South, and you need to pick through the piles of fresh okra and get the smallest ones you can find. Large okra can ...
Shooting a Cooking Video
I thought writing a cookbook was hard – then I discovered what it takes to shoot eleven cooking videos in one day! On Thursday, July 19th I had the opportunity to display my cooking skills for an eight hour video shoot with a young filmmaker named Juan Ossa, and his assistant, Natasha Yakimenko. How ...
An Ode to Onions
What is the very first thing you should do when you don't know what to cook? The answer is simple: chop an onion and sauté it in olive oil. 95% of my recipes have this as a first step. Honestly, I can’t count the number of times I’ve called my husband while I am stuck in traffic and said, ...
