One of my favorite Southern summer sides:

Combine chopped tomatoes and cucumbers (peeled if you prefer) in a bowl.

Optional: add a little diced sweet onion.

Toss with a generous amount of fresh chopped parsley, red or white wine vinegar, olive oil (about 2:1 vinegar to oil), salt and pepper. (Also delicious with fresh cilantro or basil.)

Marinate at room temperature or chilled for an hour or so before serving.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: A refreshing white or dry rose with crisp acidity to stand up to the vinegar. Pinot grigio and Albarino come to mind. Cheers!

As the weather warms up, I tend to spend less time “cooking” and more time eating simply prepared, fresh ingredients. Orzo pasta is ridiculously easy and quick to prepare, cooking in less than 5 minutes. This is a great quick lunch or dinner, or paired with chicken grilled under a brick, a delicious accompaniment.

Cook orzo in boiling salted water until al dente, usually about 3-4 minutes. Drain.

Toss with 1-2 Tbsp each olive oil and fresh lemon juice.

Add chopped fresh herbs – parsley and oregano are my favorites for this.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over salade greens.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: A white or rose with good acidity pair well with the lemon component in this dish. Think Pinot grigio, Albarino, Greek whites, crisp Chardonnay. Reisling would work as well, as long as any sweetness is balanced by its acidity. Avoid malolactic or oaky wines, unless you like your wines flabby and lifeless! Cheers!

We recently returned from Puerto Rico where we indulged in some winter sun and delicious cuisine. Tostones are frequently served as a side and they are so easy to make:

Peel green plantains by cutting off the ends and slicing down and removing the skin – the fruit will be waxy. Slice into about 2-inch pieces.

Fry in about 1″ vegetable oil over medium to medium high heat, cut ends down, about 5 minutes per side – the plantains should turn light golden brown.

Remove from oil and let cool for 5 minutes.

Using a flat-bottomed implement (a large glass, plate, or a tortilla press works perfectly), press the plantains (oriented vertically) so that the insides squish out until they are about 1/2 the original width (1/2-1-inch after cooking). You should have a pancake with a circle of plantain end visible on each side. You can flatten multiple pieces together for larger tostones.

Return the flattened plantains to the hot oil and fry for 1-4 minutes more on each side, watching closely for browning. Depending on how long the second frying time is, the tostones will range from just slightly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside to nearing crunchy (leave them in too long and you will have made plantain chips!).

Remove from oil when golden brown and salt generously while still hot.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: I would pair these fried plantains with a crisp Spanish white such as Albarino. A sparkling wine, like a Cava from Spain, would also be a great contrast to the fat in the tostones. Of course, I wouldn’t hestitate to serve these with Medalla, the beer that almost always accompanied them in Puerto Rico! Cheers!

This recipe is from Ruth Van Waerebeek’s Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook. Philippe bought this book – his maternal family is Belgian, both Flemish and Walloon. I like the story that goes along with the recipe; the author tells how cooking vegetables in cheese was her mother’s trick to get the children to eat them!

Cook the florets of 1 large or 2 small heads of cauliflower in rapidly boiling, salted water for 7 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Drain, “refresh” under cool water, and set aside.

Make a roux of 1.5 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour over medium heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly add 1 cup of milk and the reserved 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add 2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and some freshly-grated nutmeg.

Pour about 1/3 of the cheese sauce into the bottom of a casserole, top with the cauliflower. [Variation: add 1 cup of frozen peas, rinsed and drained.] Pour the remainder of the cheese sauce on top.

Top with with 1/3 cup of grated gruyere.

Bake in a 400F oven for 15-20 minutes until bubbly and starting to brown.

Serve as a side (great with lamb or beef) or with crusty bread and a green salade as a meal. Any leftovers are great reheated in the oven and spread over crusty bread.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: This gratin pairs well with cool-climate white wines. I like it with Sauvignon blanc. It would also be great with Riesling, Chardonnay from Bourgogne, Alsacian or Oregonian Pinot gris, or Grüner Veltliner. Cheers!

Black-eyed peas are traditionally served on New Year’s Day in the South symbolizing good luck and prosperity for the New Year. I grew up with Hoppin’ John being served on New Year’s, though I was not a fan as a child. Having come to my senses, here is my recipe for this healthy and rich (in both the culinary and cultural senses) dish:

Rinse and pick over 1 cup of dried black-eyed peas. Cover with 5 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and let peas soak for an hour.

Prepare 3 cups of cooked rice: Rinse 1 cup of dry rice, cover with scant 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt. Cover and reduce heat to low (about 50 minutes for brown rice and 30 minutes for white rice). Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes more. I prefer brown whole grain rice for the flavor, texture, and nutritional benefits.

Sweat the following for 5-10 minutes over medium heat in about 2 Tbsp fat. I use 1 Tbsp bacon grease and 1 Tbsp olive or other vegetable oil:

1 chopped medium onion (about 1 cup)

1/2-1 cup chopped bell pepper – I use a mix of green, yellow, red

1 chopped chile pepper (jalapeno, serrano, cayenne)

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Once the vegetables are soft and shiny, but not browned, add the peas, 2 cups of water, a bay leaf, 1 tsp salt, and a generous dash each of black and cayenne pepper. Add a ham hock or fat back for extra flavor and porcine goodness if you desire.

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove bay leaf (and pork fat if added) and stir in the 3 cups of rice.

Simmer until all liquid is absorbed.

Traditionally Hoppin’ John is served with collards or mustard greens. We will be enjoying ours alongside a ham steak with red-eye glaze and a green salade.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: Served on New Year’s Day, Champagne or sparkling wine would be an appropriate and delicious choice. Albarino, Sauvignon blanc, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay, or a dry rose would also be lovely. Cheers!

It’s hard to believe I never tasted a Brussels’ sprout until I was in my late twenties; so I never had the chance to dislike them, though I was well aware of their maligned reputation. My husband recalls disliking the bitter vegetable, but recently informed me that he would love to enjoy them more often. Choose small, tightly closed sprouts without any brown or yellow spots.

Method 1 – sauteed

This recipe is adapted from Williams-Sonoma. It can be adjusted to accommodate a few or many sprouts.

Rinse and trim the sprouts, removing any brown spots and outer leaves as necessary. Trim the stem and cut a 1/8-inch “x” into the bottom.

Boil the sprouts in salted water for 5 minutes.

Plunge into ice-water to stop the cooking. Once cooled, drain the sprouts. They can be refrigerated until needed, up to a few hours.

Heat fat (butter, oil, lard/bacon grease, or a combination) over medium-high heat. Use approximately 1 Tbsp per serving. Butter will start to brown. If using oil, be sure to choose one with a high smoke point (refined olive or canola should work fine). I prefer butter with a small amount of oil or bacon grease added to raise the smoke point.

Add sprouts, toss to coat with the fat. Let cook on one side for 2-3 minutes, they should be browning. Turn the sprouts and let cook for 2-3 minutes more until nicely browned.

Remove from heat. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the sprouts, and season with lots of salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Method 2 – roasted

Preheat oven to 450F.

Rinse and trim the sprouts, removing any brown spots and outer leaves as necessary. Leave them whole or cut them in half depending on size and desired creaminess.

Toss in a roasting pan with extra virgin olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Roast for 25-30 minutes, keeping an eye on them for browning.

Once they start to brown, remove them from the oven. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve them as is, or toss them with butter while still hot.

This method yields sprouts that are almost creamy in the center (when the sprouts are halved), where in the sauteed variation the sprouts retain a bit of crunch. They are delicious either way.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: On their own, I would pair these Brussels’ sprouts with a crisp white to contrast with the fat in each of the above preparations. The more vegetal components of the sprouts themselves would pair nicely with a Sauvignon blanc. Chardonnay or Chenin blanc would be lovely as well. Of course, most would be serving these along side other dishes, and the sprouts will happily pair with just about anything. Cheers!

Method 1 – Blanch and saute:

Blanch in boiling, salted water for 2-7 mintures, depending on thickness of stem and desired crunchiness (usually 4-5 min works for 1-cm thickness).

Immediately move to ice water. Once cool, drain thoroughly.

Heat 2-3 tsp butter and/or olive oil in saute pan over medium heat, add a finely minced shallot and saute for 2-3 min until soft and fragrant.

Add asparagus and toss with shallots until hot.

Season with sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper.

Variation to method 1:

After asparagus is blanched and cooled, wrap with proscuitto and either serve cold or place on grill until proscuitto is cripsy. Season with sea salt and grated orange peel (this variation is thanks to my friend Pam!). If grilling, be sure to only briefly blanch to bring out the green color but not lose the structure of the stem for grilling.

Method 2 – oven-roast:

Drizzle asparagus with olive oil and season with salt and pepper in roasting pan.

Place in 450F oven for about 10 min (watch carefully!), occassionally stirring them to prevent sticking and encourage even browning.

Let cool slightly, drizzle with balsalmic vinegar and serve with a few curls of Peccorino-Romano.

You can also pan-roast them on the stove-top over med-high heat to achieve similar results.

Bon Appetit!

Wine pairing: I like Sauvignon blanc with asparagus – either an old world or new world style. A Vouvray (Chenin blanc) would also be nice. Viognier woul be a lovely pairing with the cold prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and consider a Pinot grigio with the grilled version. Cheers!

Delicious served with red meat or poultry.

Dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1 cup red wine or ruby port in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add one cinnamon stick, the zest of 1 orange or 2 clementines/tangerines, and 12 ounces fresh cranberries.

Increase heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer until the cranberries pop and the sauce is thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled.

Bon appétit!

Wine pairing: Choose wines that have good fruit character on the palate for making and pairing with this dish (avoid wines with earthy or mineral-dominant profiles). I have made this dish with Ruby Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz. Think new world wines from California, Oregon, Autralia, and New Zealand, as well as some young wines from France. Cheers!

Whisk 3-4 Tbsp mayonnaise with 2 Tbsp white wine vinaigre, 1 tsp celery seeds, and chopped fresh basil and dill. Add diced carrot and/or fennel bulb.

Toss with thinly sliced cabbage (1 small or 1/2 large; mix red and green, etc.).

Let chill for at least an hour.

We served with NC-style pulled-pork BBQ, also great with grill-roasted chicken.

Wine pairing: A dry rose. Provence, Bandol, Bordeaux.