Radio Kitchen

I was doing some cooking last weekend and I found myself perusing my spice rack looking for ways to kick up my stew. And I had to ask myself, “how often do I really use all these herbs and spices?” Not often, I had to confess, and then I remembered something Chef Jerry Pellegrino once told me: spice blends are a very efficient way of handling your spices.

Every now and then I feel ambitious in the kitchen and I buckle down to try something a little challenging. One dish that I’ve been able to pull off is the soufflé. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino has pointed out, a soufflé does need to be made “just so” but no single step is really all that hard.

One of the simplest foods we have is also one of the best-liked and most useful. Butter has been around a very long time, and it’s no surprise that over the millennia we’ve figured out a million ways to use it. So we asked Chef Jerry Pellegrino, just what exactly is butter and what can we do with it?

With all the delicious red wine we’ve been drinking this winter, it’s always nice to have a little cheese on hand to top off the meal. While I do have lots of favorites, I have to admit that few things go with red wine as well as blue cheese. Chef Jerry Pellegrino told me, blue cheese is one of the more complicated cheeses to produce.

As winter slowly slips away, a lot of us are looking for ways to keep from going crazy during these final weeks of cold and darkness. One traditional outlet has been bread-baking, but even I’ve gotten discouraged by all that proofing and kneading that lead all too often to disappointing results. But Chef Jerry Pellegrino has a counter-proposal: quick breads.

The original version of goulash was created in the frozen fields of Medieval Hungary when hard-working shepherds, known as “goulyas” created a simple stew out of beef and onions. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino will tell you, this is a simple enough dish, but when a spice called paprika arrived on the scene it was transformed into the dish we know today.

I don’t think I ever get tired of eating chicken. One day it might be fried chicken for lunch, then next it’s a Moroccan chicken and couscous casserole for dinner. But Chef Jerry Pellegrino tell me, good old fashioned store-bought chicken is only the tip of the iceberg. The whole world of poultry is a pretty interesting place.

There are two cuts of meat that have nothing to do with steaks or roasts, but are the heart of some of our heartiest meals. We’re talking about ham hocks and lamb shanks. And as I told Chef Jerry Pellegrino, I clearly remember him serving me lamb shanks at Corks, way back in the day, and I was blown away. Jerry recalls them well, because they were a very popular dish.

With Valentine’s Day rolling around again in a couple of days, like many people I’m going shopping for chocolate for my wife. Standing in front of the counter at Wockenfuss, I’m always amazed by the sheer variety of chocolates available. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino has suggested, you could say that chocolate is a romance unto itself.

I've gotten into a healthy habit this winter. At least twice a week I've been having oatmeal for breakfast, and I must say I'm enjoying it. As I asked Chef Jerry Pellegrino, how many variations on oat meal are there?

A couple times in recent weeks I’ve seen a dish on the cooking shows that captures my imagination. It’s called “Porchetta” and yes, it is an Italian specialty. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino is a big fan of this dish. He offered to explain it for us.

As long as there has been a winter-time people have looked to beef up their meals with hearty ingredients and steaming pots of comfort food. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino, nothing fits that bill better than a good old fashioned beef stew. Fortunately, there is more than one way to whip this up.

‘Tis the season of New Year’s resolutions, and by far the most common is the pledge to lose weight. So to help give you some ideas about how to shed a pound or two, Chef Jerry Pellegrino is going to offer a few helpful tips.

As the New Year starts, a lot of people are looking forward, trying to figure out what’s likely to happen. Food lovers are not immune from this. And so Chef Jerry Pellegrino and I are going to look into out crystal ball and try to discern what lies ahead for us and our kitchens.

As our collective holiday season reaches its climax, it's a great time to consider a few of the traditions that make it so enjoyable. In our Jewish community, this is the time of year when a tasty annual practice comes to the fore: the baking of Jewish holiday cookies. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino can attest, our Jewish friends have some nice things in store.

If you asked me to name the fanciest entrée I could think of, I would probably say, Beef Wellington. This delicious concoction of beef tenderloin wrapped in pastry with other savory additions is a time-proven showstopper. Chef Jerry Pellegrino has told me, making a Beef Wellington is a project, but no single step is particularly difficult.

Try as we might to be creative with our dinner menus over the holidays, there’s no escaping the fact that potatoes are going to appear in one form or another on our tables. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino reminds us, there are probably a million good ideas out there for how to cook a potato.

From time to time (mainly a few weeks before the holidays) I try to lose a little weight in anticipation of the good times to come. One snack that I rely on to get me through my peckish moments is beef jerky. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino can confirm, we’re lucky that a lot of our local beef farmers are making it now, so it’s easy to find.

The age-old quandary: what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. Fortunately there are lots of things you can try, and it doesn’t necessarily mean repeating the dinner dish by dish. So along with Chef Jerry Pellegrino, let’s break down some of the elements we can work with.

It can happen that some of us get a little tired of having roast turkey every single Thanksgiving, as good as it can be. We’ve got a couple weeks to think about it, so I might suggest an entirely different idea. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino, who is always open to new ideas for Thanksgiving, has some thoughts about a good old Standing Rib Roast.

‘Tis the season to get cooking and a lot of us will be doing just that in the coming weeks. Over the course of a single generation our approach to stovetop cooking has changed dramatically. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino, it’s hard to overlook the impact of non-stick cookware.

Even though we’re entering a season when we are prone to eating heavier foods, there is always room for a salad. That little bit of green on the plate looks very inviting many times. To enjoy a good salad you need to have a good salad dressing, and Chef Jerry Pellegrino believes, this is where it becomes handy to know how to make a good vinaigrette.

The Ravens sketchy start to the season notwithstanding, I’m really glad football is back in town. One of the best parts of our football traditions is the Tailgate Party and all the tasty things we get to gobble down. And Chef JP well knows, high on the list of Tailgate standouts are sausages fired up on the grill.

Ahhh. Feel that chill in the air? Remember how blazing hot it was just a few weeks ago? Autumn is here and we’re all feeling refreshed and invigorated and ready for a change of pace. I recommend that perhaps you should go rummaging through the basement and dig out that relic from long ago, the fondue pot, because the time has come for a little bubbling cheese and a cold glass of wine.

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