I admit it. I have a kimchi addiction. I love its savory spiciness, and how the kimchi’s taste actually changes as it ages. That’s because it’s alive! (It’s nature’s probiotic. Kimchi is full of naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria—that’s good bacteria that ferments the kimchi and gives it its eventual sourness!) Anyway, I usually buy…
Vegetables
Split Pea Soup with Bacon, Ham and Caramelized Onions
I’m a soup man. Always have been. There is nothing more close to my definition of a perfect food, than soup. Sick? Soup. Tired? Soup. Celebrating? Start with soup. See what I mean? My mom was really a soup master (mistress? momstress?). Split pea soup is one of those that I remember from early childhood….
Southern Collard Greens with Bacon and Onions
You really can’t have a Southern-focused food blog without a great collard greens recipe. This is it. I could eat these everyday, all day long. And they are easy-peasy to make! Here’s how I do this. Fill up your sink with cold water and drop in two bunches of collard greens, separating them out from…
Homemade Garlic Dill Pickles
I love pickles of all types. I grew up on those kosher dill pickles that they sell in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. It was only recently that I realized that pickles are So Easy To Make. So easy, that it didn’t make any sense to buy store pickles, since I could make better…
Oaxacan “Street-Style” Grilled Corn
Oaxacan “street-style” grilled corn is addicting. No matter how much we make, we literally never make enough. With its salty Cotija cheese, cool sour cream, tangy fresh squeezed lime juice, chopped cilantro and Mexican-flavored spices (I use Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming) slathered over smoky char grilled corn, this recipe is a sure hit. And it’s fantastically easy….
The Very Best Eggplant Parmesan, Ever. (This is also great with veal or chicken!)
There’s a really famous Italian restaurant in New York City called Rao’s. They have been there for over 100 years, and only have 12 tables. It’s very, very hard to get a reservation because the families that have reservations have them each week, and pass them down to their kin. So I’ve never eaten there….
Baba Ghanoush (Cooking the Book: Jerusalem)
As you may know, Mrs. WooPigFoodie is a vegetarian. At the holidays each year, I buy her a cookbook or two that looks like it might have good vegetarian recipes, and have her pick a bunch of recipes for me to make for her. (True love.) This year, I picked up Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi…
Red Tomato Pie with Creamy Goat Cheese and Basil
I consider holiday season appetizer season. And that’s really my favorite season of all. So as the holidays come upon us, it’s time for reaching into our appetizer memory books to find delicious things to bring with us on our visits to family and friends. This is a little something I whipped up recently as a…
Green Tomato Pie
Here in Arkansas, the growing season runs long, very long, right up to winter. My tomato plants had stopped growing in the heat of the summer, but came back with a vigor come fall. I was looking forward to salads and sauces with nice ripe, red tomatoes. But then the cold snap came. When I…
How to Smoke Your Own Chipotle Peppers
Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeño peppers. I love them for their smoky and gentle-but-sweet heat. I use them in adobo sauce when cooking Mexican food and I use them ground up in my Standard BBQ Rub, which I use on ribs, pork and chicken. Chipotle pepper powder is great in flavoring homemade salsa, too. I take a…
Hickory Smoked Tofu with Sautéed Baby Spinach
Mrs. WooPigFoodie is a vegetarian, so that means I am “mostly” vegetarian. But I love my smoker and my grill for my non-vegetarian meals (like making real barbecue ribs). Over time, I have learned how to make really tasty and flavorful vegetarian meals on my grill, including my Grilled Veggies and my Oaxacan Grilled Corn….
Roasted Smashed Potatoes
I love going to the farmers market because I always learn new ways to cook with fresh produce. This weekend I learned how to make these roasted smashed potatoes. They are so easy, and are really delicious. They combine the tastes and textures of crispy roasted potatoes, with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. They’re simple to…