Food from Fiction 1: Mickey Dade’s Rice-A-Roni

“Five minutes later, Mickey laid the lamb out flat on the grill and covered it. Then, back in the kitchen, he took a saucepan down from its rung on the wall. He put it on the stove over high heat, throwing in half a stick of butter and some olive oil. In another minute, he’d added chopped shallots, garlic, thyme and rosemary, some allspice, and three cups of the chicken stock that he made from scratch whenever he started to get low. Some things you simply couldn’t cut corners on.

He stirred a minute more, added a cup and a half of Arborio rice and some orzo, then turned the heat all the way down to the lowest simmer and covered the pan. This was his own personal version of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat, a simple pilaf, but he liked his strategy of first making the kitchen so fragrant that it drew his roommates to the feast whether they were inclined to eat or not.” – from Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart (Dutton, 2010)

This is Marie, contributing an article that is only tangentially about cooking some rice.

Some time ago, I saw this lovely series of photographs documenting iconic meals from various books, such as a photo of the tea party from Alice In Wonderland (that was my favorite, followed by the photo of the potatoes and eggs from The Secret Garden) here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/04/16/fictitous-dishes-dinah-fried-book/

It was such a lovely photography series that it was an immediate inspiration to do something similar here. However, an immediate stumbling block came up – the dishes that were were lovely as photos were also not precisely appropriate to this blog (how many of you would actually want to cook a potato in a campfire? And then eat it? Please be honest!) Not only that, but I am constitutionally unable to do something exactly the way someone else did it. Continue reading “Food from Fiction 1: Mickey Dade’s Rice-A-Roni” →

Three Citrus Marmalade

This is Marie, contributing an article about marmalade. I love jams and have been buying up whatever looked good or interesting for a long time. I am especially interested in unusual varieties, like golden raspberry or heirloom strawberries. Naturally, that kind of thing costs $6 a jar or similarly eye-popping amounts, and sometimes requires shipping as well. Continue reading “Three Citrus Marmalade” →

Sockeye salmon with mustard balsamic glaze

This is Marie, contributing a new recipe we tried out just to shake things up a bit. I had gotten some balsamic vinegar for my birthday that was begging to be used, as was a partial bottle of white wine from Florence’s Wine Seller that had been gifted by the generous folks from Florence Restaurant Week. So I spent a little while searching marinade and glaze recipes with both items. This one jumped out even though it only called for a tablespoon of wine because I wanted some salmon anyway. I’m not in a mood for fish very often, best to take hold of it when it comes! Especially when sockeye is on sale. Can’t pass up something like that. Continue reading “Sockeye salmon with mustard balsamic glaze” →

Asparagus Pasta

This is Marie, contributing a few comments about a pasta dish I made because the photo looked so lovely I could not resist making it as soon as possible. I really enjoy both asparagus and pasta, but had never thought to combine the two. Since the girlchild is also a fan of both, Grant put up very generously with the recipe. Continue reading “Asparagus Pasta” →

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

This is Marie, talking about a recipe that Grant found for “Chicken and Chorizo stew.” I liked the story behind it, that a woman with a child was trying to make something out of what remained in her kitchen after a week; as she mentioned, sometimes shopping with a kid is a breeze, and sometimes you have to escape before he has a complete meltdown over whether he can have one of the $6 toy cars that break in less than a week. Continue reading “Chicken and Chorizo Stew” →

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penzeys Arizona Dreaming

This is Marie, contributing an article about a recipe that Grant was very enthusiastic about. I was a little dubious about this particular recipe at first, to be honest, despite its origin in the Penzeys catalog (we love Penzeys). For one thing, please note how many different variations on tomatoes are in it. I think there must be about at least a pound, in just about every format available except dried. And those could be added! For another, it’s a slow cooker recipe and I was thinking this was supposed to be spring. In Georgia, spring generally means two nice days followed by the immediate and vigorous onset of summer. However, this year’s weather being as odd as it is, it was plenty cool enough to take a slow cooker recipe and go with it. Continue reading “Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Penzeys Arizona Dreaming” →

Emeril’s Jambalaya

This is Marie, contributing an article about a meal I cooked. Every once in a while I get the subtle hints my husband throws my way (read “constant peppering with e-mails about new recipes”) and make something in a spicier vein than usual. Although I do generally still wind up watching him put half a container of red pepper flakes on the result, I’m not offended; after all, the base recipe has to be mild enough to share with the toddler. Continue reading “Emeril’s Jambalaya” →