Sarma (Stuffed Grape Leaves) & Pilaf
More years ago than I care to admit, Armenian-American friends shared their family recipe for stuffed grape leaves and pilaf with us. Ditalini’s been making the dish ever since, and whenever our kids come to visit they always ask her…
About Time Department: Recipe Index
Crouton’s Kitchen has grown large enough to have it’s own recipe index. Just click the tab at the top of the page to see all our recipes, listed by category. Who loves ya, baby? Crouton, that’s who!
Ditalini’s Birthday Dinner
Our friend Mary Anne cooked dinner for us in honor of Ditalini’s birthday. I swear, I’m going to have to feature some of her recipes on Crouton’s Kitchen, particularly her Brussels sprouts, which she prepared with bacon (bacon makes everything…
Memorial Day Barbecue at Dino’s
Photos from the Memorial Day barbecue we enjoyed at Cousin Dino’s house in Las Vegas the other day: Dino’s a wet rib guy who prepares his own secret sauce (hint: it incorporates a can of Coke). He smokes exclusively with…
TGIF Menu
Which stands for “To the grill . . . it’s Friday!” around maison deMenthe. Friday’s menu: grilled veggies, grilled zucchini & squash, grilled boneless ribeye steaks. I’ve described grilling veggies before, here. Last night I used small potatoes, chopped carrots,…
Parmesan Chicken with Sautéed Green Beans & Tomato/Mozzarella Salad
I was on deck for dinner last night so I decided to prepare one of Ditalini’s favorites: Parmesan chicken. Sautéed green beans and tomato/mozzarella salad seemed like they would go well with the chicken, and you know what? They did.…
Ditalini’s Lasagne Rolls
This is Ditalini’s adaptation of a Giada De Laurentiis Food Channel recipe. The original recipe called for mixing chopped prosciutto in with the ricotta/spinach mixture, but since Ditalini uses Italian meat sauce rather than meatless marinara sauce, she skips the…
Crouton’s Easy Navy Bean Soup
We took a spiral-cut ham to an Easter party and had a good amount left over. Monday I used some of it making scalloped potatoes; yesterday I used some more making navy bean soup. The soup turned out so well…
Our Smokin’ Dinner
I didn’t live blog dinner (that would have been pretty rude, wouldn’t it have?), so I’m posting a final smokin’ update this morning, long after the big family meal. Because we all deserve to see how it turned out, right?…
Live Photobloggin’ Smokin’
Bet you haven’t seen that combination of blog title words before! I’m half an hour into the smoking process, photographing and blogging as I go; here’s where I’m at: Chicken on the lower rack I prepared two chickens by cleaning…