Clam Chowder
This is a second-generation DeMenthe family recipe, passed down by my father, Chateaubriand deMenthe. He made clam chowder every Christmas Eve and we carry on the tradition. Merry Christmas to you, dear readers, from Crouton and Ditalini! Notes We doubled the recipe…
Crouton’s Beef & Guinness Stew
We had the richest, beefiest stew at a friend’s home last winter. She told me it was beef & Guinness stew and that I’d find the recipe on line. I pulled a big chuck roast out of the freezer the other…
Ditalini’s Gazpacho
Ditalini’s adaptation of a recipe from a New York Times cookbook: Note: peeling & seeding tomatoes is big, messy work, and there are probably canned alternatives. Some people (Philistines, no doubt) may be tempted to substitute tomato juice.
Tenth Rule of Cooking Club
Less is more. When we planned our August culinary trail, we decided on salad Niçoise and cold soups, appropriate to a hot summer in the Southwest (gazpacho, Vichyssoise, cold ramen, and so on). The menu evolved as the date approached,…
Ninth Rule of Cooking Club
There are no rules. Actually, that’s the first (and only) rule of the Hash House Harriers, and it probably should have been the first rule of cooking club. It’s very similar to the second rule of cooking club, which is…
Not Gazpacho
. . . but close!
Ditalini’s Chiles Rellenos
Ditalini and I recently joined a produce co-op. Every Saturday we pick up two good-sized baskets of seasonal vegetables and fruit. This Saturday we found eight big green chiles mixed in with our haul, and Ditalini decided to make chiles…
Crouton’s Salade Niçoise
Our State of the Union speech night dinner was a nice Niçoise, which is a really awful pun, since Niçoise basically means “Nice-style,” after the city on the French Riviera. I promise not to do it again. Ditalini and I…
Remodeling Crouton’s Kitchen, Part II
Progress update: Crouton’s Kitchen is a cooking blog, so in addition to recipes, most posts contain photos and commentary on the meals Ditalini and I prepare. Now there’s an easy way to print just the part of the post you…
U.S. Senate Navy Bean Soup
We’ve experimented with different navy bean soup recipes over the years; this time we’re trying an authentic-seeming Food Network recipe (I compared it to the actual U.S. Senate cafeteria recipe listed on Wikipedia and it’s a match in ingredients and relative…