Browse my entree recipes, Skillet-approved:
Red wine pinto beans with smoky bacon.
My father - Downtown Tom - has been experimenting in the kitchen again. This time he took notes and pictures of his culinary success and snuck it on an attachment in an otherwise blank email. He's just trying to see if I pay attention to the notes he sends; I know his...
Meatless Monday: Potato leek soup with a twist of fennel and artichoke
Fennel and artichoke hearts add an earthy twist to Julia Child's excellent potato leek soup - a quick entree I learned to make forever ago from her Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In addition to 2 large chopped leeks - the white part only - and 2 pounds peeled...
Pool parties in Vegas: Cooking is campy with Holly Madison, Art Smith, and the Top Chef Masters
"Whatever happens in Vegas is obviously going to end up on television." -Chris Costentino, Episode 4, Top Chef Masters It's an odd coincidence, don't you think, that the same week Prince Harry got caught without his skivvies playing midnight pool in his hotel suite...
Tijuana dogs with homemade buns and memories
We saw Tijuana dogs - aka TJ dogs - all over San Diego last month, from the Marriott's Tequila Grille to Little Italy's Craft + Commerce to the food vendors on the walkway next to the otherwise staid USS Midway Museum. Tijuana dogs are the ultimate street food...
Smoked salmon pizza and grilled prawns – a perfect appetizer combination
Saturday was slow-food pizza night, with friends new and old celebrating the close of another school year. But our pizza is slow and cocktails strong, so we started out fast and delicious, seafood-style, with three dozen grilled prawns tossed in Louisiana hot sauce....
Tasty yuzu stir-fry recipe
The tube of yuzu paste a friend brought me back from Japan a few months ago had been mocking me from the refrigerator door for several months. It was something I'd never encountered before; it has in intriguing sweetly sour, citrus and chili flavor that seemed...
Meatless Monday: potato filled tacos
Luscious, rustic steamed tacos with a potato filling from the kitchen of Señora Elvira and the pen of the renowned Diana Kennedy. Quick, easy, and delicious. Here you go:
Make your own taco seasoning
Save the planet and mix up your own taco seasoning with ingredients from your spice rack. Tangy, spicy, and gluten-free as a side bonus! Here’s how.
Pasta con broccoli recipe
Nights are getting longer and colder, and that means dinners are getting a little heartier and warmer. . . time for Pasta House Company-style pasta con broccoli with their house salad. Make it at your house with these recipes.
Battle zucchini
Stick with me to the end and I'll share some zucchini dinner ideas with you. After five days in St. Louis hanging out with mystery writers at Bouchercon, I came home with a recharged imagination and chaos in the garden. Seemed that summer ended in my absence. The pea...
How to stuff a wild zucchini
The zucchini have gone completely wild this year. It didn't start out that way; they were actually slow to grow. I planted the 4" starts the second week of May; by the third week of June they'd barely doubled in size. So I worked a handful of Dr. Earth into the soil...
Squash blossoms in paradise
Here's a question: if you were stranded on a desert island and could bring one book with you with the stipulation that all your food - recipes as well as ingredients - must come from that book, what book would you choose? (be sure to answer the question in the...