Family Dinner with JP

This is the synergy I was hoping for! I posted a tomato and anchovy and garlic butter spaghetti recipe. Eliza makes it for her family, and it's a hit! Eliza posts pics of the endeavor on the facedbooks. Friends of Eliza post a recipe they're reminded of, from the New York Times . I make that recipe. Things of note for this recipe: First off, this one was simple, and I made it for lunch. Not a huge time commitment. Secondly, I use chicken thighs. If you are boring/weird/like spending three times as much money on things/hate good flavor, you can certainly use chicken breasts. But don't. Third, this recipe uses anchovy, but I did not mention it in the title. People are afraid of anchovies. So make this dish, serve it to them, and don't even mention the anchovies until after they've already finished their seconds. And finally - this was the first dish I've made using my very own Fire Escape Herbs, who are doing very well and have not died yet at all. This ...

Christine is from Tampa, which is why she 1)knows a thing or two about Cuban food and 2)knows the Columbia Restaurant. One of those moments where, pestering her over Gchat, Christine sent an entirely inspired response to my "what should I make for dinner this week?" The answer was a Cuban Picadillo. And Christine was right. Picadillo, or "hash," is a traditional Spanish-influenced dish that usually includes ground beef. The Cuban variety typically involves raisins, olives, and capers, while other national varieties vary incredibly (some including hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, honey and lime, etc.) The dish was simple, but ultimately complex. Like a chili or stew, the leftovers were somehow even better than the original serving. I served mine over fluffy white rice. You might also include some fried plantains for scooping. Other suggestions include using this as taco filling or in croquettes. Its a seriously versatile dish. Of final note: If you don...

I did not grow up eating grits. The only time I tried them in my "youth" was during college, headed to the Warped Tour at Hampton Colosseum with my friends Jed and Ty and Graham and Dan, Jed insisting we head to Waffle House for breakfast before the show. When in Virginia ...? I remember the menu included variations of grits to include, but certainly not limited to, Covered, Smothered, Buttered, Sputtered, Stuttered, possibly Mothered. I may be making some of those up. Point is, I was incredibly underwhelmed and a little bit grossed out. It wasn't until years later, watching Michael Chiarello's "You'll Never Live in Napa and Never Be Unawaredly Rich Like Me" cooking show, when I first heard of polenta. He made it look good, elevated, exquisitely delicate and complex. And then he said the words: polenta is basically just Italian grits. So, I decided to give polenta a try, and I liked it. And then I discovered actually complex, not-covered-in-chee...

At the suggestion of my friend Justin, I subscribed to Bon Appetit for some inspiration. It's been years since I've subscribed to any cooking magazines, my last being Gourmet magazine which ended as a collection of aspirational recipes for the rich home cook, and advertisements disguised as articles (a disgusting practice I still abhor on the internet and in print). But Bon Appetit has been an incredible inspiration thus far, and the recipes are all absolutely home cook friendly (and wallet friendly). This one is ripped directly from the pages of their newest issue (though I upped the quantities of garlic and anchovy significantly). At the gentle ribbing of Anne (previously "Sporty Anne" or "The Sportress"), I decided to try something "more vegetarian." Fine fine, anchovies are not vegetarian, and I'd even recommend substituting in some tomato paste instead of anchovy if you're really that concerned/dedicated. But you'd depr...