The Ongoing Saga of Uncle Art’s Beans
Ditalini brought several secret family recipes to our marriage (her wonderful Italian meat sauce is one), but one I never quite got was the recipe for Uncle Art’s beans. Legend had it that Uncle Art made a mean pot of…
Smoked Beef Brisket, Redux
What is this “redux?” I blogged about preparing and smoking beef brisket once before, but am doing things differently this time around. Ditalini and I hate fat, so I cut away a lot of the fat you’d normally leave on…
Grilled Polenta, Italian Sausage, & Peppers
Yeah, I know, I’ve posted about these things before, here and here. But I felt like photoblogging last night’s dinner and, this time around, presenting it in recipe format. My method is to put the peppers on the grill first,…
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…