Although there were a ton of great dishes to be sampled at the foodbuzz Food Festival in San Francisco this November, only a few dishes really stood out as exceptional.  The other dishes that stand out most in my memory aren’t the ones that were done perfectly the first time.  The dishes that always stick with me are the ones that were almost perfect. Those dishes that I find myself wondering just what tiny little detail made them less than everything they could have been.

One of those dishes was Mezzetta’s Beer Braised Flank Steak.  Sure it was good, but it wasn’t great. It had all the right flavors just not enough of them somehow to compete with the other dishes at the same event. (Don’t blame the chef… competition in that room was fierce!)

The memory of that dish has stuck with me since the festival and when I came across the recipe card in my swag-bag I decided to see if I could take the dish up by that one much needed notch.

Now I have nothing against polenta, which is what the chef originally paired this dish with, but as a good southern boy, I don’t necessarily have polenta on hand, but I always have grits, so my first change was obvious.  The second thing I didn’t want to do was to use a bunch of pre-made store bought products to make the dish, regardless of the quality, both because they’re too hard to change to my liking and because I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the first attempt.

Don’t let the seemingly large list of ingredients frighten or deter you.  Basically I just built a pasta sauce in a braising liquid and let it thicken as it went.  You’ll be amazed how quickly it all goes together and how absolutely powerful the flavors are.  It’s simply an awe-inspiring dish and one I recommend that you give a bit of time to while the weather is chill.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

When the weather is cold the oven goes on low and slow and roasts and stews are the order of the day.  From now until the weather starts to warm our home will most likely be full of the aromas of simmering liquids and hearty winter herbs like sage and rosemary.  Stone fruits and jams replace fresh herbs as flavorings and the calorie counts rise to cope with the need to stay warm.  It’s my favorite time of the year, and roast chicken is one of my favorite dishes to make.

The smells of slow roasting poultry immediately get me thinking of the Holidays.  Thoughts of family gatherings past and things that were said around hot meals on blustery evenings with much laughter and joking, holiday specials on television for us kids and veiled references to what was bought for whom.  The good times in our family were always most pronounced when the weather got cool, and for me this type of food epitomies family, friends and love.

This chicken recipe is one of my mother’s go-to’s.  I share it with all of you in the spirit of the Holidays and I hope that you enjoy it with family and friends.  With laughter and joy and perhaps a holiday movie on for the kiddos so that they too have memories like mine when they get to be our ages.

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Winter weather means soup.  For my family, soup usually means something extremely hearty that sticks to your ribs and will keep you warm through a cold night on the Great Plains. (which, if you’ve never experienced it, can be very cold indeed!) For me the king of all rich and hearty soups is potato soup and this is my take on it.

This soup is hearty and filling.  It’s incredibly thick, sumptuous, rich and warming. It’s slightly thicker than most potato soups and the bacon adds a certain richness to the earthy flavor of the potatoes that I don’t think ham quite accomplishes, though it’s the more traditional addition to this dish.

A warning, though.  If you’re looking for something light, this ain’t it.  There’s enough cream and butter I this recipe to make staunch dieters cower in fear, and your cholesterol levels may never be the same again.  Having said this, I only recommend this dish as an occasional treat.  One to be savored when the weather is chill and the nights are long.  It’s not every day fare, it’s comfort food at the highest level, with the calorie count to match.

This recipe makes enough to serve about eight people, but don’t worry about scaling back if you’re only serving one or two.  It freezes exremely well and can be kept sealed in the chill chest for three to six months in airtight containers. That way it’s just waiting for you the next time the weather gets seriously chilly and you’re in need of a wintertime booster shot of soothing warmth.

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Ever since I made my version of Kielbasa Stew from the recipe at La Mia Cucina, I’ve been dying to try out a version that used different types of sausage. Knowing that, I suppose it was somewhat advantageous that a tummy bug caught hold of me earlier this week, and that a good soup was the only thing on my mind. It was also fortunate that even though it was the day before payday, I had everything I needed in the larder to whip up a soup.

You keep calling it a soup. I thought the recipe was for sausage stew?

OK, you got me. It is a stew, but only in light of the absolutely outrageous amount of meat and chunky veggies it contains, and the fact that they were stewed. Usually I would have made a roux before adding the stock, but as I said, I was having tummy trouble, so I avoided thickening the broth at all.

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Popularity: 2% [?]