Spicy Shrimp and Cheddar Grits

“He can never leave well enough alone.” I heard this pretty much constantly throughout my childhood. (They were talking about me!) I love shrimp! I love grits! Shrimp and grits? Of course, but sometimes in its most basic traditional form it’s not really boring but maybe a canvas to be... adorned.  

Cannellini and Escarole Soup

Whether you prepare Consommé, Bisque, Chowder or just Soup, you’re making something that just about everyone loves. 
Some soups, especially intense and clarified consommés or rich and creamy bisques are usually served as one of several courses in a meal. Others are equally appropriate occupying the “soup course” or as the star of the meal. 


Simply Roasted Asparagus

Number one on the list of the simplest things you can make in your kitchen is boiled water. Tap, pot, heat, done. Number two has got to be this dish. But roasted asparagus has boiled water beat, hands-down, when it comes to delicious things to eat. Frankly, asparagus prepared and served in any way is pretty okay in my book.

Dirty Potato Salad

Most potato salads have a nice, “linen” color. This one does not. Looks however, can be deceiving. Instead of boiling the potatoes we grill them until they are nicely charred, and mixing that flavorful carbonization with the pristine mayonnaise and sour cream doesn’t exactly look laundry fresh!

Roasted Golden Beets

If a root vegetable is going to be cooked, in my opinion there’s no better way to do it than roasting. Any vegetable that can stand up to this cooking method will retain its own distinctive taste, its inherent sweetness is enhanced and it will become tender without giving up its natural texture. It’s also super simple and requires next to no attention; so you can spend more time with other, more complicated parts of your meal preparation.

Broiled Shrimp Cocktail

Served as an appetizer, fish course, main course or mounded on a buffet, ice cold shrimp with a spicy seafood cocktail sauce is loved by everyone. My apologies to those with shellfish allergies, but then those poor souls are probably not reading this recipe.

Garlic Lemon Kohlrabi

How many times have you passed over this extremely versatile, albeit odd-looking, vegetable while strolling through your local farmer’s market or produce department? Sure it looks more like Sputnik than most vegetables - okay it’s the only vegetable that resembles a 1950’s Soviet satellite, but that’s no reason to shun it!

Nonna’s Italian Giardiniera

Giardiniera is a staple condiment found anywhere in Chicago where you can get an Italian Beef sandwich. You can usually choose a hot or mild version of this delicacy depending on your tolerance for heat. My recipe is pretty much right in the middle. Aside from a sandwich condiment, Giardiniera can also be included in Antipasto or just served as a side for just about any dish hot or cold.

Cheddar Drop Biscuits

It seems that cheesy biscuits have become a “signature” item at every chain restaurant. They’ve become so popular that several chains now sell their own mixes so you can enjoy these treats at home.

Maple Glazed Roasted Yams

Sweet potatoes or yams are really good for you. But letting them simmer for an hour or more in a bath of brown sugar syrup is a little contrary to any health benefits! Roasting brings out the natural sweetness and glazing with real maple syrup adds just the right amount of “candy” to the mix.

Pan Roasted Red Skin Potatoes

Sometimes when trying out a new recipe for a main course dish, you devote all of your concentration on the new comer and let the sides, well... slide. That’s not fair to the new dish or your family and certainly doesn’t showcase your kitchen talents. So it’s nice to serve an accompaniment that doesn’t require constant attention, but still looks and tastes great. This is of one the easiest side dishes you can prepare.

Butter Toasted Orzo

The Italian word “Orzo” translates literally as “barley”. It is also the name of a small cut pasta roughly the size and shape of a large grain of rice. Orzo is most often used in soups, and I do occasionally substitute Orzo for barley in some soup recipes but here we’re preparing Orzo as a pasta side dish.

Caramelized Cauliflower

Too often, the only time Cauliflower is eaten by most people is as part of a crudité platter or smothered in cheese sauce. I have nothing against either of these preparations – I love them both, but there are other ways to serve this much maligned vegetable.

Antipasto Pasta Salad

Sometimes you are asked to bring “something simple, like a salad” to a cookout or potluck. Please, please make it yourself! Unless you get that request while you’re driving to the party there is no reason to bring store-bought. Pasta salads can be as varied as your imagination allows, but all too often they end up tasting the same, so let’s put some punch in our pasta.

Spinach Ravioli with Mushroom Cream

Fresh Ravioli are not at all difficult to prepare and your guests never need to know that! The combination of Spinach and Mushrooms and Buttery Cream is classic and can be served as an appetizer, a pasta course or as a main course dish. And the variations possible by adding some type of seafood, poultry or meat are almost endless. (I’ll make some suggestions in the Tips and Trending section at the end of the recipe.)

Swiss Scalloped Sweet & Russet Potatoes

Most scalloped potato dishes do not incorporate cheese; that ingredient is usually reserved for au gratin recipes. So maybe this should be called Sweet & Russet Potatoes Au Gratin. But then au gratin refers to the toasty breadcrumb crust and this dish doesn’t have that! What’s a cook to do?

Creamed Sweet Peas with Shallot Crisps

If you can get fresh, and I mean farm fresh not super-market fresh, Sweet Peas - buy all you can carry! And then use them within one or two days. The window of opportunity to get really fresh Sweet Peas in season is very small and they do not last long once they leave the farm. This recipe will shine if you can use fresh instead of frozen, but don’t let a shortage of fresh peas stop you from preparing it.

Loaded Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes and onions are a naturally perfect combination; they just fit together in so many dishes. Scalloped potatoes without onions would just be sliced potatoes in a white sauce. American Fries or Hash Browns without onions is, well... un-American! But rarely if ever do you come across the sweet, crunchy, spiciness of onions in mashed potatoes. Until now that is.

Steakhouse Creamed Spinach

This is a side dish loaded with tradition. Creamed Spinach is a steakhouse staple found virtually everywhere. This side dish is also loaded with a lot of butter fat, so it’s not a “vegetable” I would recommend as a part of your daily routine but, oh boy, is it good!

Pickled Golden Beets

Growing up in the southwestern burbs of Chicago, pickled beets were everywhere. The canned variety was always included on every holiday relish tray. Every family-style restaurant had them on the menu, usually accompanied by cottage cheese and a wedge of iceberg lettuce. And most of the Bohemian restaurants served them hot as a side dish or along with sweet and sour kraut.