It sometimes amazes me that in today’s world of high-end restaurants and lofty food shows the simpler cuts of meat are either forgotten or worse, are thought of as something only useful for the most basic of culinary tasks. My issue with this trend is that some of the cuts now shunned by most shoppers have the capability of producing the…

Mine is one of the many American households where Ham is a staple at several holidays. I have slightly different methods for preparing this noble cut of meat, depending on the holiday in question.
For Easter, braising is my preferred method. No cloves will be found in my Easter ham, not that I’m against them, I’m not. I just prefer the…

Some of you probably remember me waxing poetic on the subject of Twin Springs Wineries’ Texas Sweet Red wine. Being a wine country expat, I very much enjoy tasting wines that are local to the area I find myself living. Wines from different regions have very different flavor components and characteristics, not to mention methods of vintification. The serious wine types call this…

I wanted to make something special for Mrs. seat of her Pants this Valentine’s day, not just your run-of-the-mill dessert. I must have hit every site on Google before I stumbled on this recipe. I was looking for a way to use up some of the Sherry or Sweet Marsala we have lying about, but this just looked so decadent that I…

Are you looking for something simple, satisfying and perfect for polite company or a living room full of game fans?  If so, I have just the recipe for you today.  It’s a mouthful of flavor in a small package.  The perfect finger food for a party of any kind.  In a word, it’s delectable.
I was thinking about the mushroom and Swiss…

What is is about wine officianados and sommeliers that sets in their minds the justification of $200.00-plus bottles of wine?  I can only assume that they must be fantastic but to be honest, it would take one helluva special occasion for me to fork out that kind of green for a glass or two of a fine vintage regardless of how wonderful it might be.  I’m just not that into…

There’s something about the onset of Autumn that brings out a deep need for me to make soup. Winter has its slow cooked meals and stews, summer is for smoking and grilling and spring is for whatever fresh greens might be coming up, but Autumn and Fall are for soups, the heartier the better. The closer to winter it gets, the heartier…

Turkey may be the star of the holiday table, but I would never dream of hosting a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without a ham as well. With both on the menu you satisfy everyone’s wants for a great holiday meal with both red meat and poultry, as long as you’ve got a good vegetarian dish somewhere in the mix, you’ve covered…

Summer is upon us, and with it the need for lighter meals and cool refreshing desserts. For many this means ice cream, gelato, sorbet or a float, all of which are wonderful indeed, but to me it means fruit, preferably with a bit of a kick.
This recipe stemmed partially from the fact that I have quite a bit of frozen fruit in my…

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, the other night was no exception. The plan was simple and I had high aspirations. I was going to introduce my wife to the epitome of cooking with wine, the extravaganza of culinary wonderment and simplicity that is beef bouguignon (beef burgundy). Not only would it be a wonderful dinner for a cold, rainy Texas night, but…