Ramp Biscuits and Gravy with Maple Bacon

When I was growing up in New York, biscuits and gravy was not a dish I encountered. My mother didn't make them at home and none of the local restaurants served them. So it wasn't until my early 20's, having lunch with some co-workers in a new southern cuisine restaurant, that I had my first taste.

Make Ahead Gravy

Three days left until the big Thanksgiving feast so let's talk about food stresses. For me, for many years, it was the gravy. I was taught that I need to take the turkey out of the roasting pan and keep it warm while I strain the boiling hot pan, de-glaze it with stock and scrape the good bits up from the bottom. Then pour it into a gravy separator to get off the layer of fat, then make a butter and flour mixture and whisk it in until the gravy thickens.

Za'atar Crusted Steak with Spicy Shatta Chimichurri

I'm always experimenting with steak sauces that enhance but don't overpower the meat. As much as I love barbecue sauce, once I put it on, it's pretty much all I can taste. And it's a shame to buy good quality beef and spend time cooking it well only to not get the flavor.

Loaded Turkey Sandwich with Sweet and Spicy Mango Honey Sauce

Is it back to school time where you are? Or do you just have a need for a good desk lunch, day in and day out because that's definitely the case for me. Either way, you've probably got sandwiches on repeat.

Smoked Gouda Pretzel Cheese Dip

Serious pretzel lover here! Not the hard, crunchy ones you snack on. Wait, I mean, yes, those, too. But I'm talking about the soft, bready ones. Is bready a word? Let's just say it is. Pretzels are all my New York childhood memories of getting the big salty ones from street vendors when my mom and I went to watch the ice skaters at Rockefeller Plaza. Pretzels are my jam.

Smokey Pumpkin Sage Pasta Sauce

Wow, it's almost the end of the first week of October and this is the first pumpkin recipe I've shared with you this season. That's quite a lot of restraint on my part because I love pumpkin and my kitchen has been stocked with them since I saw the first one in the market.

Homemade Za'atar Pita Chips and Quick Labneh Dip

If you follow me on Instagram (and if you're not, why aren't you??) then you know that my tag line says "currently sprinkling za'atar on everything."  I'm obsessed with it and with labneh (strained Greek yogurt cheese) too.

Creamy Roasted Heirloom Tomato Dressing

If you've recently noticed fewer salad greens in your local market, it may very well be my fault.  The way I've been buying massive quantities of all sorts of lettuces could have contributed to a nationwide shortage.  What's my sudden passion for romaine and butterhead?  To scoop up this dressing, of course, and shovel it into my mouth.  The next option would be a spoon.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Creamy Greek Style Vinaigrette

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pompeian for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

   

Did you know that May, in addition to being a lovely spring weather month, is also National Salad Month and National Vinegar Month.  I'd say this calls for a salad!  It's also right around this time that I stop craving hot soup to warm me up and start craving the fresh veggies I see in the market.  Dinner salads with some grilled chicken, a sprinkling of good cheese and a great dressing are just my style.

The Tao of Tahini...with Roasted Beets

Both of my European parents spent a few years living in Israel before they met.  And both fell in love with Middle Eastern cuisine.  Years later when they married and moved to New York to raise a family, they retained their love for the food.  Tahini is a staple of Israeli menus and it was frequently on our table when I was growing up.  I loved it then and now.  Beets also made appearances thanks to my mother's Russian heritage but I admit I didn't develop a taste for them until I grew up.  What I don't recall is ever seeing them paired back then.

Irish Mudslide Sauce

Last year, I used Irish cream liqueur to make a delicious trifle for St. Patrick's Day.  So, for the past few days, I've been staring at my bottle of Irish cream and wanting to create another recipe with it.  I kept thinking, what would I like to pour this into, other than just a big glass.  So, the desire to just drink it made me think about pouring it over something and that's when I realized that it really, really needed to be a sauce.

Homemade Cherry Preserves

Yesterday I told you about the cherry challenge issued by the folks at OXO and North West Cherry Growers.  And part of the bounty of cherries they sent me went toward creating some brandied cherries.  The next recipe I had planned was for one of my favorite treats.  Every single day I look forward to my afternoon snack of Greek yogurt with a dollop of sweet cherry preserves.  So, why not make my own?

Creamy Lemon Dill Dressing From a Barking Dog

A couple of blocks from our apartment is a fun little cafe called The Barking Dog.  Somewhere between a diner and a cafe, they have good burgers, amazing beer battered onion rings, comfy Yankee pot roast and the best Cobb salad we've ever had.  It's huge, with lots of grilled chicken, bacon, blue cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts and a whole sliced avocado.  I usually share one with Brian as a starter but I'm perfectly fine with skipping the entree and just eating this salad as my meal.  That's assuming, of course, that I can have extra dressing because I really, really love this dressing.  Really.

Creamy (and Light) Cauliflower Sauce

We love cauliflower and it appears on our dinner menu pretty often. Raw, steamed, roasted, mashed...we'll happily eat it in any form. But cauliflower sauce? I'd never heard of that. The other day, though, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Pinch of Yum, and Lindsay was expounding on the virtues of her cauliflower sauce in place of creamy, heavy pasta sauce. Huh? Whaaa? I had to make it. I mean, immediately! And I had a head of cauliflower in my fridge because I pretty much always do.

Brown Sauce (Veal Stock) and a Bestie

A bestie who can cook!

Today I have a double treat.  I'm going to share a recipe for one of the finest sauces you will ever taste and also introduce you to my oldest and dearest friend.  Denise and I count our friendship in decades and though, I won't tell you how many decades because that will depress me, we've been through it all together.  Schools, homes, new loves, lost loves, births, deaths, heartbreaks, disappointments and joys.  We've walked together for most of our lives and I can't imagine ever being without her.  I am also the reason she is now married to the love of her life and for that, she owes me forever!  Possibly into the afterlife as well...

Strawberry Sauce

I love fresh, seasonal strawberries as much as anyone. But what if a man comes home from Costco with the big 'ole, honking, giant, feed an army, monster tub of strawberries? I gave it my best effort but after 3 days of stuffing myself with strawberries to the point where my skin was about to change color (while said man was off on a business trip), I knew I would lose this battle. So, what to do? Make strawberry sauce, of course!

Yummy Guacamole

Since this past week featured both National Margarita Day and National Tortilla Chip Day, it seemed appropriate to have Mexican food over the weekend. The most appropriate way to have it, of course, would be to go to a good Mexican restaurant and have it prepared by people who know how to cook Mexican food. That just seemed too easy, though.

The Goddess Goes Light

Green Goddess salad dressing is an old classic recipe, thick and creamy and reminiscent of the great salads you'd get at a steakhouse. Most of the time, I'd be just as happy to skip the steak in favor of a giant portion of salad with extra creamy dressing and thick buttery bread.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

We rarely eat dip in our house, nor will you find the accompanying chips in our cupboards.  Just too tempting!  So we keep hummus and carrots and broccoli at home and save our indulgences for vacations.

Chop Chop (Adventures in Dips)

My Cuisinart food processor is as old as the hills and I hate the thing. There's no reason to replace it because it works perfectly but it's heavy and cumbersome and annoying to clean. It is the perfect tool to make my pie dough and ideal for my favorite cheesecake recipe. But for the majority of the year it sits tucked away in the bottom of a cabinet. Sometimes I encounter recipes that require a food processor but I'll either pass them up or just chop things by hand.