I rarely hear anyone say that they like meatballs, but I’m here to say that meatballs are on my list of what is called these days as comfort food. I sometimes poke a hole in the center of my rather large meatballs and insert a big olive stuffed with anchovy, or what about an olive stuffed with a garlic pod, or perhaps one stuffed with blue cheese will give your everyday meatballs a big bam! Sometimes I put a whole garlic clove in the meatball. Once the meatballs are cooked, the semi-soft garlic is a real taste treat and it also gives the meatballs a great garlic flavor. Try it!

My mother used to say “where there’s food there are flies” whenever we swatted them away from the food when eating outdoors. I remember that she often covered the food (and pitchers of tea and lemonade) with muslin or cheesecloth secured with with clothespins. It worked. You can do the same using paper towels or colorful cotton napkins.

I don’t have a lot of kitchen gadgets so I try to “make do” with what I have on hand. I don’t have a salad spinner to dry salad greens, but if you put a couple of sheets of absorbent paper towels in the bottom of a large mixing bowl or salad bowl. Add your washed salad greens and toss around with the paper towels. You may have to do this a couple of times with fresh paper towels but it does the trick. Oh, and I sometimes keep the salad greens in a clean pillow case, rolled up, in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator to keep them fresh for a couple of days.

My kitchen sink disposal has been on the blink for a couple of days, and of course it had to be on days that I was peeling shrimp and cleaning garden vegetables. I remembered something my mother did back in the Dark Ages and it works just fine…
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A bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs that is tied together or placed inside a small cheesecloth bag, used to flavor soups, stews and broths. The classic combination is parsley, bay leaves and thyme, but some cooks will also include whole peppercorns and sometimes other herbs, depending on the application and the flavors of the dish they are preparing. The herbs are tied or bagged together so that they might easily be lifted out of the prepared dish before serving.

Drawn butter IS the same as clarified butter and is quite easy to make. Simply melt unsalted butter over a low flame. The milk solids will separate (dropping to the bottom of the pan) and leave a golden liquid (your clarified butter) at the top. Just pour off this clarified butter and use in your cooking. You will find it helpful because it burns at a higher temperature than whole butter (since you eliminated the milk solids.) Clarified butter also keeps longer for the same reason. The only drawback to clarified butter in my opinion is that you lose some of that great, rich butter flavor — sometimes there is just no substitute.

My potted herbs are thriving and I can’t seem to keep up with the basil, Greek oregano, lemon thyme, and rosemay. I’m certainly not complaining, but I’ve become quite creative with my herb crop. Of course, the basil is fantastic with garden-fresh tomatoes. And I’ve found the other herbs are great with chicken…
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The truth is that many people in the late 80’s and the early part of the 90’s had claimed allergic reactions to food prepared with Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). Reactions included nausea, headaches and general feelings of discomfort. Although there is proof that a small segment of the population does suffer from an adverse reaction to MSG, it is also a little known fact that mushrooms are filled with natural MSG, and most people do not have any problems with them. MSG is a salt alternative that is used commercially as well as in a lot of Chinese cooking. It’s a lure that you can use to accent other flavors, without making them seem too salty.

Storing purchased bread in the refrigerator will prolong the life of it. So, if you plan on using it at a later date then storing it in the fridge would be a good idea. However, this really just prevents molding and does not preserve “fresh” quality. So, it’s best to using bread as soon as possible after purchasing or baking it.

You can call it sole, turbot, fluke or flounder—they’re all flatfish and are good eating. The flesh is delicate, sweet, flaky, and usually firm (halibut is an exception). Halibut usually appears in choweders in the Northeast. Down South, flounders stuffed with crabmeat is a local favorite. Use sole for amandine or Veronique presentations. Most flatfish can be easily prepared—baked or broiled with lemon butter sauce.