Browsing Tag

#LetsLunch

Dinner Tonight, Food + Recipes
Spanish Shrimp with Bacon, Cheddar and Chive Grits for #letslunch

Shrimp ‘n’ grits is a classic Southern dish, especially around the Low Country of South Carolina. I like the way grits make a blank starchy canvas that can be easily paired with so many other flavors. A pot of grits is the easiest thing in the world to stir up; make it interesting by adding some butter, a little white cheddar, browned bacon and chives. The shrimp that go with grits are usually seasoned with garlic, Cajun style seasoning, cayenne and herbs, kind of like a kicked up shrimp scampi. But since Mark Bittman told me about this Spanish inspired recipe that stars Spanish paprika with ground cumin, I haven’t looked back. The Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish Makes: 4 servings Time: About 30 minutes Adapted from How to Cook Everything Excuse the superlatives; this spin on a Spanish tapa is my favorite, and everyone I serve it to loves…
May 4, 2012
Dinner Tonight, Food + Recipes
Pretty Green Brussels Sprout Slaw for #LetsLunch

Summer won’t be here for months according to the calendar, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait until July to break out our cole slaw recipes. Cabbage is the perfect vegetable to bridge the winter-to-spring divide with its crisp texture and earthy, slightly sweet flavor. Since heavy, creamy cole slaw doesn’t appeal to me most of the time, I was thrilled to discover some healthier and tangier slaws that hold the mayo. I developed a slew of healthy ethnic slaws for Relish Magazine, but one of my favorites is this one made with pale green baby Brussels sprouts. Cabbage and the other cruciferous vegetables all share a subtle sweetness and can star in a range of creative salads and slaws. Cabbage is delicious raw and adds a crunchy component to any meal. Treat it like you would any lettuce: chop up the cabbage of your choice, drizzle it with…
March 1, 2012
Food + Recipes, Pop Culture
Smoked Brown Sugar Crème Brûlée for #LetsLunch

Food is tied up in so many metaphors, but probably the most evocative of all are about sugar. The taste of sweetness is something all babies crave. And no matter how old we get, we never lose our fondness for sugar. Our sweet tooth just starts to crave different forms of satisfaction. The first song about sweetness and love I remember was “Sugar, Sugar” (1969) by the Archies. It has a delightful bubblegum pop quality; what’s not to like about lines like “You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you.” I was just 5 when the Rolling Stones first asked “Brown sugar, how come you taste so good?” in their classic song from the Sticky Fingers album. As soon as I was old enough to tune my boom box to rock music on WLS, I knew Brown Sugar was naughty, what with the slave owner taking advantage…
February 10, 2012
Food + Recipes, Party Recipes and Pairings
Grandma Dorothy’s Deviled Eggs for #LetsLunch

It sounds like a Black family movie cliche, but growing up near Chicago, my relatives got together for big family dinners a la Soul Food. Nearly every weekend, my parents, siblings and I would pile in the car and make the hour drive from the Northwest suburbs to Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. We couldn’t wait to visit the gorgeous three-story brownstone that my Grandma Dorothy shared with her sister Aunt Fannie and Uncle Willie. Aunt Fannie always had an amazing dessert ready: a caramel cake, chocolate meringue pie, strawberry cheesecake or maybe a three-layer coconut cake with caramelized pineapple in between. I loved sweets like the fat kid in 21 Questions loves cake (still do) so I was always more partial to Aunt Fannie’s cooking. To be fair, my Grandma made a stellar banana cake with a baked-on crust and did some pretty good punches too; I loved stealing…
December 9, 2011
Food + Recipes
Croque Monsieur With Cheese Bechamel for #letslunch

Just like revenge, sometimes dinner is best served cold — or at least at room temperature. It’s pretty comfortable here in California, but for the rest of the country, the idea of heating up the kitchen with the oven sounds pretty unappealing. So the bloggers in the #letslunch group decided to share our favorite cold dinners this month. Whipping up a salad makes for a cool and easy meal, but I decided that that makes it too easy. Croque Monsieur, the French grilled ham and cheese sandwich, is one of my favorite meals to eat lukewarm or hot from the oven. It takes a little time to whip up the bechamel, but aside from that, it’s as easy as toasting cheese on bread and so much more satisfying. There are lots of ways to present it, but I like Croque Monsieur open faced and topped with juicy summer tomatoes. Croque…
August 12, 2011