Piccata Perfection: What to Eat When Winter Just Won’t End

Once Valentine’s Day is over each year, I’m usually at the point in winter where I am so over it I have to mentally prepare myself for tiny physical outdoor tasks, like taking out the recycling or getting the paper. Even if it isn’t a mind-numbingly cold, negative-30-degrees-before-the-windchill-style Minnesota day, it’s still really, really cold. If you don’t live somewhere with punishingly cold winters, the heavy braises and slow-cooker cold weather meals still start to get old and make you crave the fresh, lighter spring fare that somehow seems so far away. So if you’re sick of burying yourself underneath a metaphorical weighted blanket woven out of heavy food and streaming services, never fear – there is a halfway point between slow-cooker chili and grilled asparagus. An uplifting, pre-spring midpoint to bridge the gap.

Enter piccata. With a bright and briny injection of citrusy sauce, it stirs your senses when it seems like winter will last forever. It’s so easy. It uses ingredients you either already keep, or should keep, on-hand. And it’s still fried. But like, barely. Compared to the other forms of frying, this version is just above saute and just below pan-fry in amount of fat required. There is minimal mess and splattering, with maximum crispiness. And then the lemon, and the capers and the parsley! So bright, so piquant, so fresh! 

One note: I brined my chicken breasts before patting dry and applying the mallet. So I did not actually add salt. But for ease and time-saving, I’m writing this as if I did not brine and, instead, I included salt in the ingredient list. So brine, or don’t, you do you. Let’s make it!

Chicken Piccata

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 large lemons, zested* and juiced
1 TB Dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup capers, patted dry
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 oz each)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley leaves, chopped

Directions

Heat oven to 200ºF. Line sheet pan with parchment paper.

In small bowl, whisk lemon juice, mustard and garlic. Stir in capers.

Place chicken breasts on large cutting board, cover with a large piece of plastic wrap, then pound the smooth side of a meat mallet (or the side of a can of tomatoes or beans) until about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Discard plastic and season chicken with salt and pepper.

Place flour in large shallow bowl or pie plate. Add chicken breasts, one at a time and toss to coat. Tap to remove excess flour. 

In large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add two of the chicken breasts and cook 4 minutes on first side, then turn, reduce heat to medium and cook 4 to 6 minutes longer, until cooked through (at least 165ºF in center). Transfer to prepared sheet pan and place in oven.

Melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add remaining chicken breasts and cook 4 minutes on first side, then turn, reduce heat to medium and cook 4 to 6 minutes longer, until cooked through (at least 165ºF in center). Add to sheet pan in oven. 

Add wine to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping pan with spatula to collect fond. Immediately stir in lemon juice mixture and return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly reduced. Remove from heat; stir in parsley.

Top each chicken breast with a generous amount of the pan sauce. Top with lemon zest.

*For the prettiest zest, use a traditional citrus zester or even a channel knife. A microplane is a great tool, but creates smaller, less desirable zest for garnishing. Two large lemons should make 1/2 cup. Measure lemon juice into a measuring cup. If less than 1/2 cup, add more lemon juice, dry white wine, cider vinegar or water.

I served the piccata with roasted new potatoes with dill, yellow beets with goat cheese and crispy beet greens, but of course it’s great with a simple pasta tossed in butter or olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Piccata, roasted new potatoes with dill, yellow beets with goat cheese and crispy beet greens

The Holy Grail: Detroit Pizza

Detroit, Michigan: the grittiest city in the United States. To know Detroit is to love Detroit. You gotta have a lot of heart, pride, and strength to fight everybody all day, every day.

Detroit has been through some rough years between the car industry pulling out and leaving her for dead and decades of mismanagement and bad choices by the powers that be.

But folks, I am here to tell you loud and clear that the city of Detroit is far from dead. You don't have to look very far to see that her heartbeat has been fueled and fed by the people and the food. She is making a comeback like champions do - a "hold my beer" moment of epic proportions.

Community feeds itself literally, figuratively, and spiritually as we come together to break bread at the table. This is always the way. 

Food brings people together, feeding not only our bodies but our minds and our souls. Each of us brings something different to the table, a favorite dish from grandma, a memory or a story, identifiers of who we are and where we come from. 

In every community and culture, the table exists in some form, a place of generosity, unity, and love where we are our best selves. Detroit embodies this spirit at all her tables, and she welcomes you to sit, share and eat.

The food scene in Detroit is intense. A homage to the people and places where their families' stories began. The table is set with food from all corners of the world.

No dish says this more than Detroit Pizza. A Hot Rod version of Sicilian pizza, it hits hard and fast and leaves a lasting impression. By all accounts, the first Detroit Pizza was made by Italian immigrant Gus Guerra in 1946 at the bar Buddy's Rendezvous. Gus wanted to add a version of Sicilian pizza to the lineup, a dish he remembered from sitting at his grandmother's table. Sicilian pizza is square or rectangular in shape, so how to do this?  

At the time, car production was happening across the city of Detroit. In every factory was a small steel utility tray used for transporting small parts, nuts, screws, etc. Buddy thought the trays might work for his pizza as they were plentiful, square in shape, and made of steel which conducts heat extremely well.

The rest is history.

Detroit Pizza was officially born, and in my humble opinion (and Chicago, I apologize in advance), it is, in fact, the Holy Grail of Pizza. 

The crust, oh the crust … light, airy, yeasty focaccia bread, saturated with extra virgin olive oil, the slightest bit of chewy goodness in the center, the perfect bite of crisp on the outside. The entire crust is encased with caramelized and slightly burnt cheese that oozes like molten lava down the sides and into the corners, awakening all of your senses and whipping your taste buds into a state of euphoria. Covered with garlicky pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage hinted with fennel, the earthy undertone of oregano, and the humble and pure tomato sauce. Ingredients joined together in holy matrimony for all time. Hallelujah and amen, brothers and sisters. This is Detroit Pizza. It ain't gonna be easy, but it is gonna be great, just like the city of Detroit.

*This recipe and process will take 3 days. I like to start the dough on Thursday and make the pizza on Saturday. Plan. Like all great things, it takes time. 

Dough Ingredients

3 cups 00 flour
¼ cup semolina flour
1 TB sea salt
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
1¾ cups warm water
2 TB extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing pan on baking day

Dough Directions

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients (both flours, salt, sugar, and yeast), and whisk together to fully incorporate all ingredients.

Pour warm water over dry ingredients and begin stirring until flour is fully incorporated and a sticky dough starts to form. You may need to add a touch more water than the recipe calls for, depending on the day. Once the dough is ready, we will transfer it to another container for the rise.

In a large plastic bowl or container, add the olive oil. Using your hands, rub the olive oil all around the bottom and sides of the bowl or container. Transfer the dough to the greased container and roll around the bowl, making sure to completely coat the dough.

Cover the bowl tightly and place in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours (overnight) or preferably for 2 days.

The 2-day rise is what will give you the closest texture to authentic Detroit Pizza.

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)
2 cloves chopped fresh garlic
2 TB tomato puree or paste
4 TB extra virgin olive oil
4 TB good red wine
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6-8 whole fresh basil leaves
1 TB granulated sugar
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp sea salt (kosher salt can be substituted)
½ tsp ground black pepper
Pinch (roughly ⅛ teaspoon) dried red chili flakes

Tomato Sauce Directions

Add all ingredients to a saucepan (use a big enough pan that the sauce has room to cook and move) and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You are cooking just enough to get all the rawness cooked out of the canned tomatoes and let the ingredients come together.

Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container overnight if using the next day.* Sauce can be used on the same day if desired.

.*I prefer to make the sauce 1 day ahead because the flavors pop after sitting overnight.

Ingredients/ Toppings for Pizza

12 slices of large pepperoni
4 oz. raw sweet Italian sausage
6 oz. block of Mozzarella cheese, shredded using a box grater
6 oz. block of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded using a box grater
3 oz. White cheddar cheese, shredded using a box grater.
1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 10 x 14 Detroit Rectangle Steel Pizza Pan - if you want to make this pizza properly, then you must have one of these pans, and it must be steel, not aluminum.
Extra virgin olive oil for greasing
Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, to taste, optional*

*I always have a small wedge of Parm or pecorino in my fridge. As soon as my pizza comes out of the oven, using a Microplane or small cheese grater, I grate the cheese over the entire pizza. But this step can be omitted per your taste, and you can use as much or as little as you like.

Pizza Instructions

Pull out pizza dough and let it sit for 2 hours before using. You need the dough to be at room temperature so it will be easy to work with in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes prior to cooking the pizza. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the middle rack during preheating. If you do not have a pizza stone, do not stress. You may have to cook your pizza for a slightly longer time, but it will work.

While the oven is preheating, get sauce on the stove at a low temp. You do not want it to cook but to loosen up slightly and be warm all the way through.

In a large bowl, mix grated cheeses evenly. Set aside.

Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, and using your hands, rub all along the bottom and sides of the pan, completely covering.

Dump pizza dough, including all the olive oil, directly into the center of the pan. Using the tips of your fingers and working from the center out to the edges, pat dough out ( like you were playing the piano) until dough reaches the edges and corners. Be patient, and just keep pressing gently until the pan is covered.

Sprinkle dried oregano over the entire crust. Cover the entire crust with the grated cheese mixture, and this is KEY: make sure you sprinkle cheese all along the edges and corners so that when it cooks and melts, it will "burn" on the outside of the crust. This is one of the main things that will give you a true Detroit crust.

Cover the crust with pepperoni slices. Layer sweet Italian sausage, tearing off tiny little knobs as you go. A small bowl of warm water to dip fingers in as you work with the sausage helps immensely with the stickiness.

Take a large spoon and dot tomato sauce across the top of the pizza. You do not want to spread the sauce out; leave it as is.

Slide the pan into the oven (on a pizza stone, if using) on the center rack and bake for 20 minutes. Every oven is different, y'all, so you may need slightly less or slightly more cooking time. You are looking for dark crispy edges, melted lava-like cheese, and sausage bubbling clear juice. Then once you have determined the pizza is cooked, turn your broiler on high and cook for up to 5 more minutes until the cheese begins to bubble and is lightly browned. The broiling helps to ensure the entire surface of the pizza has an even melt with the cheese, which gives the texture that stringy pull we all look for in pizza, especially pizza right out of a pizza oven to the table. Just be sure to watch vigilantly during this step and pull out before it gets too dark.

Pull the pan out VERY carefully, your pan and oven will be screaming hot, and the chances of getting burned are high.

Set pan on the stove, and grate the Parm or pecorino over the top if desired. Using a spatula, lift the entire pizza out onto a cutting board, and using a pizza cutter, slice in squares. Serve immediately and rejoice in this beautiful thing you have just created. It only gets easier the more you make the pizza.

Notes: 

* I normally get someone to hold the cutting board when I lift pizza out of the pan. It can be tricky until you get the feel. Go slow your first time, and let the pizza cool a little if you need to. Another technique that works is holding the pan with good oven mitts on, slightly tilted over the cutting board, and using the spatula to slide out of the pan onto the board.

*Detroit Pizza uses a cheese referred to as "Brick Cheese," which is usually mixed with Mozzarella. Brick cheese is very hard to source in the south. However, with a little mixing and matching, I have developed a cheese blend with the proper consistency and a flavor that is very close. If you can find Brick cheese in your area, I recommend using it in place of my cheese mix for authenticity.

Tarragon Butter: A Lesson in Versatility

Earlier this month, we gathered with friends and strangers to celebrate a life taken too soon, that of beloved Mississippi outdoors writer Bobby Cleveland. 

Bobby Cleveland may have been best known for the scenes and stories he shared in his long time Clarion-Ledger column on hunting and fishing, but those who knew him best remember him for his wicked humor, good taste in music, and incredible skill in the kitchen. At the memorial, Bobby’s closest friends and family told side-splitting stories of their times together, and each recounted at least two or three meals, recipes or cocktails that they loved most when shared with Bobby. 

This recipe for Tarragon Butter came to mind as one of Bobby’s fishing buddies recounted a trip to South Louisiana that resulted in a sizable catch of red drum and an encounter with a machete-bearing Cajun. Much like this recipe, the story illustrated the value of versatility in a life well lived. Some days you catch the limit, and others, you catch a buzz and create memories that carry on long beyond our earthly days. 

My mother, Sandra Miller, is the culinary mind behind this recipe. She often kept it in the refrigerator for a quick meal of fish or shrimp, and it is equally as good slathered on French bread and toasted as a savory side to beef, chicken and pork. And while I haven’t tested it yet, I’m most certain that this compound butter would make delicious roasted potatoes. 

Tarragon Butter

¼ cup butter, softened 
1 shallot, minced
1 TB tarragon, minced (1 tsp dry) 
1 TB chives, minced (1 tsp dry) 
1 ½ tsp parsley, minced (1 tsp dry)
⅛ tsp black pepper 
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed 
1 tsp Mrs. Dash (salt free lemon pepper or garlic herb flavor) 
½ tsp lemon pepper 

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Brush on seafood or bread. 

Catfish with Tarragon Butter

Season catfish with salt and pepper. Brush fish with tarragon butter, making sure to cover fillets evenly. Squeeze half a lemon over the buttered fish. Bake at 375 for 18 minutes, and finish by broiling on high for 3 minutes. Ladle liquified butter over fillets and serve with lemon wedges. 

Chicken and Dumplings, Just Like Mama Used to Make

Well, sorta. With Mother’s Day coming up, I’ve been thinking of all of my mom’s best recipes. And I would feel bad about changing Mama’s already-perfect recipe if she hadn’t changed my paternal grandma’s already-perfect recipe. 

See, my Daddy liked bone-in dark meat chicken. Only. 

So Gran, always eager to give her only child, Charlie, whatever he wanted, would make that happen for him, even if it meant her casserole had bones in it. 

Mama, being about half as eager to please Charlie, made half of it bone-in and the other half boneless. Normal, reasonable people could eat from one side; Daddy had the bony other side all to himself. And even though it’s shocking, since he passed away, she now makes this cozy casserole entirely without bones. 

When I think of comfort food, I think of Mama’s chicken and dumplings. And while I’ll happily eat Mama’s already-perfect version any time, I have the tendency to make things more flavorful whenever possible. That also means they’re more complicated.

In Mama’s version, you boil a whole chicken and use the broth to boil the dumplings. Then you pour some of the broth, plus a whitewash of milk, butter and flour over the mixture of chicken and dumplings and top with a crust that you roll out from some of the reserved dumpling dough. It’s delightfully starchy, and unlike most chicken and dumplings recipes you’ll see on the Food Network or the first page of a Google search, there are no vegetables to be found. Yum.

I roast the chicken whole (but feel free to use a rotisserie chicken to save time). Then I pull the meat and boil the carcass, along with any of those beautiful pan juices (or the congealed version of that same mixture that you find in the cold rotisserie chicken container), for a couple of hours, then strain for a quick, but rich stock. Next, I boil the dumplings in that stock and use the couple of remaining cups to make a mashup of velouté and bechamel – half stock, half cream sauce. It still gets the 2-for-1 dumpling crust, and there are still no unsightly actual vegetables, but I brush it with melted butter and top with a sprinkle of fresh herbs. 

This Mother’s Day, whether you try my Chicken and Dumplings (or Mama’s, or if you’re brave enough, Gran’s) or something from your own comfort food repertoire, I hope you savor something that makes you remember, honor and celebrate all the mamas in your life. They sure deserve it.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

Roast Chicken and Stock
1 (4 lb) whole chicken
2 TB butter, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
8 cups water

Dumplings and Crust
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Accent
1/2 tsp baking soda
12 TB butter, cut in pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk

Sauce
6 TB butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups stock
1 cup half and half or whole milk
2 TB melted butter

2 TB fresh dill or chives, optional

Directions

Heat oven to 400∞F. Spray small rimmed sheet pan or braisière pan with cooking spray. Place chicken breast-side up in pan. Tuck the cubed butter under skin of the chicken. Sprinkle all over with the 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, turning once, until nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer placed in the thigh (without touching the bone) registers at least 165∞F. Transfer chicken to cutting board to rest until cool enough to handle; reserve pan juices. Turn off oven.

In stock pot or large Dutch oven, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, break down the chicken. Pull the meat; transfer to storage container. You should have about 4 cups pulled cooked chicken. Cover and refrigerate pulled chicken. Add chicken carcass (including skin, cartilage and pan juices) to boiling water; return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook 2 hours. Strain stock through mesh strainer into 8-cup glass measuring cup or large bowl; discard bones. You should have about 6 cups of stock. If you don’t, add enough water to make 6 cups. If you have more, that’s fine. Use all of it. Return strained stock to same pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Rinse strainer and measuring cup or bowl; reserve.

While stock is cooking, make the Dumplings and Crust. In food processor, place all Dumplings and Crust ingredients except buttermilk. Process until mixture is uniform and butter is fully cut in, scraping bowl with rubber spatula one to two times during processing. With processor running, stream buttermilk into the mixture until incorporated. Transfer to floured surface and knead lightly until mixture is smooth. Divide into three equal pieces. Wrap one piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Using floured rolling pin, roll out the remaining two thirds of the dough to 1/3-inch-thick rectangle. With knife or pizza cutter, cut edges of dough to make a clean rectangle; add scraps to reserved refrigerated dough for crust. Cut dough into 1-inch squares. 

Heat oven to 350∞F. Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Add dumpling squares to boiling stock and cook 6 to 10 minutes, until they puff up and turn white. Test for doneness. Strain through reserved strainer into the large measuring cup or bowl. You should have about 2 cups thick stock left. Immediately pour dumplings in dish and spread evenly. Spread cooled chicken evenly over dumplings.

Make the Sauce. In 2-quart saucepan, melt the 6 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until thick and beginning to smell slightly nutty. Whisk in the reserved stock and half and half or whole milk. Bring to a simmer and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until thickened. Pour sauce over mixture in pan. 

Prepare the crust. On lightly floured surface using floured rolling pin, roll out the refrigerated remaining third of the dough to a very thin 14x10-inch rectangle. Carefully transfer to casserole dish and tuck edges under. Brush crust with the melted butter. Cut several decorative slits in the crust to allow steam to escape. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until casserole is steaming and crust is fully cooked. Mixture should be at least 165∞F in center. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with herbs.

Fiddle Around, Find Out: Green Chili Chicken Spaghetti

Some navel gazing: food writing has its place. Like any genre, there are fans, and then there are critics. 

“Just give me the recipe!” the haters sometimes scream. 

Well, we don’t need a jump-to button here at GTC. Our writers may share a memory or two, descriptions of their cooking techniques or their dining experience, and variations they find that make a recipe flexible. But we are never too long-winded. And we are self-funded, so when we recommend or identify a brand, it’s because we appreciate the quality of that product.

I and the others here at GTC enjoy reading food blogs and books about cooking, dancing around the kitchen, or heading out to wine and dine, finding and sharing those wonderful experiences. If you have read this far then you probably count yourself as a member of our tribe and even still look upon the word “foodie” with affection and not as a pejorative. 

And we appreciate you. Pay no attention to the haters. We get you. We got you. 

For me, there seem to be so many approaches, but I have started to recognize my own pattern. I mine cookbooks and the internet for classic recipes then I fiddle with them: make them a little healthier, a little peppier per mine and Bud’s tastes, and adapt them using ingredients that I can find at our local grocery or Wally World in our small Mississippi Delta town. 

Pedestrian? Perhaps. But that’s me.

Thus, this green chili chicken spaghetti. I was looking to make a version with a cheese sauce that’s not so heavy (read: gummy) as those relying purely on processed cheese and/or canned soup. And I wanted to punch up the heat from the standard can of diced tomatoes and green chilis.

So, I pulled out that great sour cream cheese sauce recipe that Ree Drummond uses to make enchiladas and adapted it as a pasta sauce, added a few more seasonings to layer in the heat, et voila.  

Bud went back for thirds. Enjoy … 

Green Chili Chicken Spaghetti

1 ½ pounds chicken breast tenders
5 TB butter, divided
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
4 oz. pimentos, drained
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilis, drained
14 oz. spaghetti
4 TB flour
2 ½ cups chicken broth
1 4 oz. can green chilis
8 oz. sour cream
3 cups pepper jack cheese or Mexican blend, shredded, divided 
3 tsp+ taco seasoning
2 TB diced jalapeños (optional)

Directions

1. Bring about 6 cups of water (or additional chicken broth) to a boil, add chicken tenders; reduce heat and simmer until cooked through. I usually let them simmer for about 10 minutes then take it off the heat and let it sit for another 10. Do not discard this broth as you can use it to boil the spaghetti. Cool the chicken. Shred it.

2. Melt 2 TB butter in a small skillet. Add in bell pepper and onion and cook until soft.

3. Put your chicken and the softened onion and bell pepper in a large mixing bowl.  Add pimentos and tomatoes to the mixing bowl and give it a good stir.

4. Using the broth, get your spaghetti started so it can boil while you are making your cheese sauce. Break the spaghetti in half and cook it 1 minute less than the package directions. Drain. 

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. Melt 3 TB butter in a saucepan over medium heat until frothy. Add flour and make a nice roux, whisking 1 – 2 minutes until golden. If it starts to seize up, go ahead and start adding your chicken broth. Pour broth in, a little at a time, and whisk for a couple of minutes until broth is incorporated. Remove from heat. Add the can of green chiles and whisk. Add in the sour cream and whisk. Add 2 cups of the Mexican blend cheese and stir until smooth, putting it back on the heat if you need to get it to blend. Add 1 tsp of taco seasoning and salt to taste.

7. Add the pasta into the large mixing bowl with chicken and vegetables. Stir well. Add in the cheese sauce to the mixing bowl. Add in the jalapenos, if using, and add additional 2 tsp of taco seasoning, or more, with salt and pepper, to taste.

8. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Pour everything into the dish and spread remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. Cover the dish with foil. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and cook 5 more minutes until it’s all cheesy and bubbly. Serve with garlic bread and a nice salad. Enjoy!

Shrimp Creole’s Devilish Brother: Fra Diavolo

I got a gumbo spoon for Christmas and wanted to give it an inaugural stir, so I pulled my trusted source for Louisiana fare: my family cookbook.

I turned to the section with the gumbo recipes and went down a rabbit hole when I noticed a recipe from a cousin for shrimp fra diavolo. Though it’s a general Italian-American dish – the name translates as the “Devil’s brother” – it includes nice heat and a seafood feature that makes it a dish popular in New Orleans restaurants.

So, here’s a fascinating read: pull some gumbo recipes, then shrimp etouffee, then on to shrimp creole, then fra diavolo, and finish with arrabbiata (the latter translating as “angry” in Italian).

From the soothing and delightful gumbo over rice on one end to pasta dish names that translate as the “Devil’s brother” and “angry” on the other, you get a nice progression from comfort food to stimulating dishes that have a nice, spicy kick.

It’s an interesting spectrum with gumbo as a purely roux-based dish to arrabbiata with a purely tomato gravy-based dish, with the ingredients from the five dishes generally meeting in the middle at shrimp creole. Of course there are vegetable and flavor changes, as well, but you can easily see the overlap.

I decided that, instead of gumbo, I would give the fiery shrimp fra diavolo recipe a try. I looked at more recipes online and found their common elements – lots of garlic, white wine, basil, and red pepper. Sometimes onion. Sometimes Parmesan.

I leaned heavily on Ina Garten’s version. She opts for ready-made Rao’s prepared arrabbiata for a quicker meal with great flavor, and since Rao’s is available at Wally World, I was on board with that. And since I couldn’t find any fresh basil, I opted for prepared pesto.

The result is a beautiful pasta dish with strong flavors. And I will have to break in that new gumbo spoon another day.

Enjoy …

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Appx. 6 - 8 servings

3 TB olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 TB garlic, minced
1 – 2 tsp red pepper flakes (see note about heat)
1/2 cup white wine
24 oz. Rao’s arrabbiata or 3 cups homemade spicy marinara
3 TB basil pesto
16 oz. linguine
1 – 1 ½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Parmesan, shaved 

Directions 

1. Put heavily-salted pasta water on to boil.

2. Heat olive oil in a saucepan on medium/high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes until it’s soft. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for an additional 2 minutes stirring constantly and making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.

3. Add white wine and reduce heat. Simmer for about 3 minutes until wine reduces by about half.

4. Get your linguine boiling in your pasta pot. It will probably take 10 or so minutes.

5. Add 3 cups of arrabbiata and basil pesto to your saucepan and bring to a simmer. Salt to taste. Add a little more wine and/or a little more pesto, to taste.

6. When the pasta still has about 5 minutes to go, add your shrimp to your tomato sauce making sure all the shrimp are submerged. If the tomato sauce is not bubbling, bring the heat back up.

7. Reserve about a half cup of pasta water. Drain your pasta and return to the pasta pot.

8. Make sure that your shrimp are pink and cooked through and pour sauce into pasta pot and mix well with the linguine. If the sauce needs thinning, add pasta water little by little and continue to stir. Make sure all pasta is coated.

9. Top with Parmesan and serve with Italian bread and a nice salad.

A note about the heat: 1 tsp of red pepper flakes is subjectively mild to me. Go for 2 tsp if you want to make sure you get some nice heat. My cousin adds up to 3 TB, but I'm not sure she has any taste buds left. 

Late Night Crustless Quiche

With the holidays upon us, it’s always good to have a simple breakfast dish on hand to help soak up whatever excess you may have indulged the night before. This recipe is from the kitchen of our family friend, Sue Perret, a glamourous South Louisiana Cajun who loved to entertain. The Perrets had six children, a billiards room, and an indoor pool, which, as you can imagine, was the perfect combination for a party. 

For many years, we would travel to Demopolis, Alabama, to visit the Perrets for Christmas on the River, a magical, hometown holiday festival featuring a boat parade on the Tombigbee River. The weekend was full of activities, with the adults starting the day with Bloody Marys and wrapping it up with Hot Buttered Rum. The party would wind down when Dr. Earl, Sue’s husband, read to the children Cajun Night Before Christmas in an accent so thick that I never really understood what he was saying, but was captivated nonetheless. 

I have many of Sue’s recipes and they are all no-fuss and flavorful, which makes them perfect for busy holidays and busy lives. Dr. Earl loved to fish and was on a semi-pro bass team for years. In the early 1980’s Sue wrote and illustrated a short cookbook of “nothing but bass” recipes, with the star being a dish of bass, butter, canned mushrooms, and white wine that is prepared in the microwave. While the idea of microwaved fish may not appeal to our sophisticated 2021 tastes, in 1981, it was revolutionary. 

I have doubled and even tripled this quiche recipe with great results, and it’s perfectly easy to throw together at, say, 1:00 a.m. and refrigerate overnight. I’ve included my spin on Sue’s original “crustless bacon quiche” recipe below, as well as several variations I’ve tried over the years. 

Late Night Crustless Quiche

4 eggs 
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup biscuit mix
3 TB melted butter (you can also use 3 TB bacon drippings)
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine eggs, milk, biscuit mix, melted butter, and red pepper, stirring until well mixed. Pour into a greased quiche pan or pie plate. Press bacon and cheddar below the surface. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until set in the middle. Let stand for 15-20 minutes before serving. 

Variations on bacon and cheddar: 

• Sautéed spinach and mozzarella 

  • 2 cups fresh baby spinach

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped

  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 

Drizzle pan with olive oil and saute garlic along with the baby spinach until wilted. Press spinach below the surface of the egg mixture, along with the mozzarella. 

• Roasted tomatoes and feta 

  • 2 TB olive oil

  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes

  • salt and pepper to taste

  • ½ cup feta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss tomatoes in olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes burst. Press tomatoes below the surface of the egg mixture, along with the feta cheese. 

• Smoked salmon with ricotta and green onions

  • 6 oz smoked salmon

  • ½ cup ricotta cheese

  • 2 green onions, chopped

Press salmon below the surface of the egg mixture, and dollop the egg mixture with the ricotta cheese. Once cool, top with green onions. 

• Chopped ham and Havarti 

  • 5 slices deli ham

  • 2 oz. Havarti cheese, sliced thinly

 Press ham below the surface of the egg mixture, along with the Havarti cheese.

Vegetable Beef Soup for People Who Zoom

Today, I found myself halfway through an unproductive, hour-long Zoom meeting contemplating a very important question: Should I turn off my camera and move my laptop to the kitchen so that I can get a jump start on chopping carrots? It would be very easy to set up my laptop on the kitchen ledge and listen to the presentation while prepping vegetables. My fear, however, is that the steam of sauteed onions might fog the camera, if I were, by chance, called upon to speak.

I resisted the urge and labored through the final twenty minutes of the program, then quickly jumped to my feet to cook the way I have learned best over the past 20 months: in 15-minute increments. What may come as a surprise, or none at all to those of you who have spent years being interrupted in the kitchen is that this fractured method of cooking often results in dishes that have a lovely depth of flavor. 

In our family, vegetable beef soup has traditionally been prepared with stew meat and at least one variety of legumes, most often black eyed peas or butter beans. The version I’m sharing today uses a few shortcuts, including ground beef and frozen vegetables, which makes it ideal for a weekday dinner. For me, it is worth a special trip to Whole Foods to buy their frozen vegetable mix which includes lima beans. 

For this vegetable beef soup, I browned the ground beef and drained it on paper towels, removing most of the fat from the pot but leaving the brown bits. I came back an hour later and sauteed the onions and carrots in the remnants of the beef fat, then added the tomatoes and tomato sauce. After yet another invigorating, virtual meeting, I returned to add the frozen vegetables, broth, additional seasoning, and the browned beef. The result is a hearty, cozy soup assembled during those beautiful, empty spots on your calendar that are wedged between calls and video conferences.

Vegetable Beef Soup for People Who Zoom

1 pound ground beef
½ medium onion, chopped
½ cup chopped carrots
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 teaspoon dry ranch seasoning
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 16 oz bag of frozen, mixed vegetables
4 cups low sodium beef broth 
1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
2 bay leaves 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Brown ground beef in a pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink, breaking into small bits. Remove beef with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Discard any excess fat, leaving a teaspoon or so in the pan. Saute onions and carrots in the pot, scraping up browned bits from the pot as the vegetables begin to sweat. Once the onion and carrot soften, add the tomatoes and dry Ranch dressing, as well as pepper to taste. Add the following seven ingredients to the pot, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Leave to simmer on low for two to four hours, or until your workday is done. Remove bay leaves before serving. 

This dish is a hearty answer for those limiting carbs but still craving comfort foods in cooler temperatures. Of course, serving it alongside crispy cornbread would be mighty fine. 

Summertime Catfish Creole

Peanut butter and catfish. These were the two staples in our house during the COVID-19 quarantine of 2020. My husband likes peanut butter on both sides of the bread, with jelly in the middle. My daughters prefer their crusts cut off. I like my peanut butter sandwich with mayonnaise and bananas, which is another story entirely. 

Now, I know that no one wants to be reminded of the COVID days when we scoured empty shelves and deli coolers at the grocery store or of the painstaking sanitization of cereal boxes and milk cartons. But you likely remember acutely the shortage of many staples, meat in particular. What a bountiful blessing it was to always find the neat red and white boxes of Simmons Catfish from Yazoo City on the freezer shelves of my neighborhood market. 

I am brand loyal to Simmons Catfish for many reasons, one being that the two “Simmons sisters” were sisters of my own in the Tau Chapter of Chi Omega at Ole Miss. My total adoration of these fabulous women aside, Simmons is consistently the best quality catfish to come out of Mississippi. The size, flavor, and freshness are always on point, and through a technique called IQF, which prevents the fish from sticking together in icy captivity, one can easily pull out the exact portion needed for a recipe. The beauty of a box of Simmons Catfish is in the knowing--the knowing that you have a secret weapon in your freezer that can feed your family, and the folks next door, three and four times over. 

My favorite style of cooking is the approach where you open the pantry and pursue an impromptu culinary jam session. In the case of creole cooking, a box of catfish is like having Dr. John sit in. You know it is going to be good. 

Below is my recipe for catfish creole, which includes a generous helping of cherry tomatoes from the summer garden. The fresh tomatoes give this dish a nice, acidic balance. For this recipe, look for Simmon’s “fillet cuts” which are smaller cuts of the fillet and perfect for stews, gumbos, and creoles like this one. If you can’t find fillet cuts, be sure to slice your catfish fillets crosswise before adding them to the creole recipe. 

Summertime Catfish Creole

1 lb. Simmons Catfish Fillet Cuts
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 T Butter
1 quart cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 ½ t oregano
1 ½ t thyme
1 ½ t white pepper
Dash of ground red pepper or red pepper flake, if you like it spicy
Salt & Pepper to taste
Granulated garlic to taste
1 14.5 oz can Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can Petite Diced “Chili Ready” Tomatoes
1 T worcestershire sauce 
2 bay leaves

1 C Rice, prepared according to the recipe below 

In a baking dish, cover frozen catfish with water to defrost. Once defrosted (30 min), drain the water and season with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. It is not necessary to pat dry the catfish for this recipe. Any standard seasoning mix like Tony Chachere’s or my new favorite, Kirkland Brand No-Salt Seasoning, will do.  

Melt butter in a dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add bell pepper, celery, onion, and garlic. Salt and Pepper to taste. Saute until tender. 

Add sliced cherry tomatoes to the pot, along with oregano, thyme, white pepper, red pepper. Stir and let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until tomatoes soften. Add the canned tomatoes, along with the Worcestershire and bay leaves. Let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Add catfish and allow to simmer for 20 minutes, until the catfish appears firm and white, or flakes to the touch. You can let this simmer on low for a while, or serve immediately over ¼ cup of rice with crispy bread and butter as a side. 

For the rice: I’ve never been able to make decent rice with the traditional stovetop method. This oven-cooked rice turns out perfectly every time. 

1 C rice

1 T Butter
1 t Salt 
2 C water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine rice, butter, and salt in a 13x9 baking dish. Bring water to a boil and pour over rice. Stir and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let sit covered for 5 minutes after removing from the oven. Fluff with a fork and serve.

5th Sunday Blasphemy: Reconstructing Chicken Spectacular

If you aren’t familiar with Chicken Spectacular, perhaps some of the casserole’s ingredients will spark a memory: French cut green beans, wild rice, pimientos, water chestnuts, and cream of celery soup.

It’s one of those classics that’s a cinch to throw together for any gathering.

The casserole had fallen off my radar for a couple of decades, but when I skimmed the recipe in an old cookbook not long ago, I remembered it as popular 5th Sunday potluck fare that we had at church when I was growing up.

For the uninitiated, any month that had five Sundays, instead of four, was cause for celebration at our church, and we would have a post-service potluck lunch. The church would provide fried chicken, then the congregants would fill table after table with casseroles and desserts. At least one family would always bring a big pan of Chicken Spectacular, it seemed.  

Having recently rediscovered this lost dish, what did I do? Cooked it the classic way a couple of times. I fell in love with it all over again. Then, like the blasphemer that I am, I wondered: can this be improved?

Well, it depends on how you define “improvement.”

The beauty of the classic dish is how easy it is to throw together. The only bother to the original recipe is getting your chicken together, cooking some wild rice, and softening some onion in butter. Mix all the ingredients up with some canned cream of celery soup and mayonnaise, bake it off, and you are good to go. Easy enough.

If you don’t have any extra time, then Google the thousand versions out there and make it just like that. It’s delicious.

But, if you have about 15 extra minutes, make your own celery cream sauce: add some diced celery into the pan with the onion and cook until it softens, make a quick roux, then add some chicken broth and evaporated milk, simmer for a few minutes to thicken it up, and voila!

Classic or reconstructed? Your choice.

Enjoy …

Reconstructed Chicken Spectacular

1 6 oz. box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice, prepared
3 cups cooked, diced chicken
4 oz. pimientos, drained and diced
2 cans French style green beans, drained
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained and diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 sweet onion, medium, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
4 TB butter, divided
2 TB flour
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions

First, get your chicken and your wild rice prepared. Note that you can use 2 packages of the Uncle Ben’s ready rice and get the same results. (I was skeptical of ready rice until I found an Elizabeth Heiskell recipe that used it; it works particularly well in casseroles.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Next, make the cream of celery sauce. Melt 2 TB butter in a pan and throw in the celery. Let it cook a couple of minutes then throw in the onion. Cook them both about 5 minutes then add your garlic in. Cook another 2 minutes, careful that the garlic doesn’t burn.

Add the additional 2 TB butter. Once the additional butter has melted, add the 2 TB flour and whisk about a minute. The mixture will begin to seize up. When it does, add in your chicken stock, stirring to make a thick sauce. Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then reduce the heat and add the evaporated milk. Simmer on low for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper, to taste.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the chicken, rice, sauce, and all remaining ingredients except cheddar cheese. Check to see if it needs additional salt.

Pour into a 9 x 13 casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes until bubbly. If you want, add cheddar to the top and cook an additional 5 minutes or so until melted.