Browsing: Food & Dining

I saw a Food Network photo of an Italian sub the other day and I just can’t get it out of my mind. It has become a craving. I only know of two restaurants that serve a good sub and that’s Sicilian II and the Italian Terrace. Both are a good drive from my house, so the next best option is to make one myself.

Fried rice balls, arancini, may not sound very interesting, but the folks in Sicily turned this simple idea into something pretty wonderful. Arancini are made with leftover risotto, formed into balls, and stuffed with almost anything you might think of, and then fried crispy brown, so that they look like little oranges, thus the name, arancini and they are a delight. 

I love making homemade food stuffs, like jams and jellies, but my favorite are condiments, and I have a special affinity for mayonnaise. The French claim to have invented the sauce (yes, mayo is a classic French sauce!), but the Spanish contest that claim.

I am sure you have noticed that I talk a lot about pasta, especially when it’s chilly outside. There is just nothing as filling and warming as a big bowl of toothsome pasta. It is comfort food at its best.

It’s getting to be that time of the year in Mississippi when the sky turns gray, there is often a misty rain, and the temperatures yoyo from cool to pretty chilly. There is not much to do for it, but get out your sweaters, scarf and gloves, and dodge in and out of the weather as best you can. Also, don’t forget to feed the birds and squirrels, they get chilly too.

As a kid, living at home with my family, no matter where we were in the world  (dad was an army officer), Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday.

Many classic recipes were the product of necessity and in many poor countries the staple diet is rice and beans. It just doesn’t get more affordable than dried beans and rice, slowly cooked with what every leftover you might have.

There is hardly a more popular handheld food in many parts of the world than the taco. There are a hand full of fast food chains that feature them, and an uncountable number of Mexican restaurants and street stalls that specialize in tacos, and it is also a food that is easy to make at home

Bacon has been around since about 1500 BCE, with the Chinese the first to salt and cure pork belly. The Romans also had a hand making bacon from pork belly and eating it with bread and cheese. Medieval Europe carried on the tradition and eventually it spread to the rest of the world. The pig itself came to us from Eurasia and northern Africa and is now also a staple around the world.

I’ve been on a Southern kick recently, and nothing is more Southern than black eyed peas

But don’t despair! There is another option, an option that talented cooks can turn into an art form: leftovers! Leftovers should not be delegated to a last course option, when treated with care, your family will welcome your creativity, and your food budget won’t take a hit.

Fall has got to be my favorite time of the year. What a blessing it is to wake in the morning to a cool dawn, after suffering through another brutal South Mississippi summer. It’s a great time to go for a walk in the Desoto National Forest or a bike ride around the old Biloxi cemetery. 

When most people think of Coastal cuisine, gumbo and jambalaya almost always come to mind, and those are two very good and classic examples.

There probably is no more iconic American food than a good old-fashioned hamburger. Its about as American as you can get. It’s a food that can easily be made at home, but once the fast food industry took off with the idea, our eating habits changed forever.

Tradition, elegance, and history define Mississippi’s oldest restaurant, Weidmann’s. Located in Meridian, the iconic restaurant was established in 1870 by Felix Weidmann, a Swiss immigrant chef on a transatlantic steamship.

Not a lot of people may share this opinion, but I think that a good hot dog is hard to beat. You know, wieners, franks, tube steaks, or just plain hot dogs, the German creation that has become such an American tradition, just isn‘t  for everyone it seems. Do you love them or hate them?