American

American, bread, cheese, dip

Basic crackers

These are a great thing to keep around for a nosh with some cheese and olives or a spread. I started experimenting with them to have a non-wheat alternative to potato chips. I have added cocoa powder and extra sugar for something between a cracker and a cookie, and it is great with coffee for […]

American, braising, chicken, peppers

Paprika Chicken

All the recipes I’ve found for this claim it’s a standard American recipe–perfect for when you’re rummaging around for an idea and don’t have much on hand. I guess it didn’t make it into our family, because I don’t remember having it. It’s basically a paprika-heavy chicken fricassee–perfect week-night comfort food. You could probably use […]

American, meat, pork, roasting

A Simple Brined Pork Roast

This is a very basic recipe that can be adapted with any flavors that you prefer. It differs from Joe’s previous pork recipe in that it’s brined and it doesn’t have a crusty coating. I also used a cheaper pork sirloin roast (~$ 6-7 for the whole shebang), which turned out every bit as flavorful […]

American, bread

Flaky Biscuits

The only problem with these biscuits is that they’re likely to be tastier than whatever they’re accompanying. The trick to these is keeping the dough soft and rolling and folding the dough with melted butter. This is an adaptation of the basic biscuit recipe from The Joy of Cooking. Makes at least six beautiful 2″ […]

American, fish, potatoes, stew

Peace Like a River Fish Chowder

One of my favorite books is Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. It’s a story about a crime, the road, the trials a family faces, and miracles. It takes place in Minnesota and South Dakota in the wintertime–the perfect setting for chowder. My recipe was inspired by this line: “Supper that night was Swede’s […]

American, cranberries, dessert, nuts, pie

Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Announcing the first of the Thanksgiving recipes! I got this recipe from NPR during a show about cranberries. It’s a very simple and easy pie (great if you need to make a last-minute dessert), which uses our favorite seasonal fruit. It can be served warm or cold and with or without whipped cream, though I […]

American, sides

Popovers

Here’s another one for posterity. I found it in my old email box, back when I asked mom for the recipe while living in the dorms: POPOVERS Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees – place well-oiled iron muffin pan in oven while you prepare batter. Put into blender*: (you can double or multiply […]

American, bread, peppers, sandwich, turkey

The Vesuvio Sandwich

This might be the first sandwich recipe on the blog. When Dan returned from a daytrip to New Jersey, he admitted that he’d had a sultry and unforgivable lunchtime affair with a Garden State native who “had more meat than I could get in my mouth”. Some asshole named Vesuvio. Turns out Vesuvio is a […]