Radio Kitchen

From the American south come quite a few traditions for our first meals of the year. Black-eyed peas, collard greens, corn bread, and pork are guaranteed to get your year off on the right foot. The old, famous dish of Hoppin' John seems to have be created just for this purpose, and is a wonderful cold weather dish. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of all of the traditions that surround holiday dinners, our ----Radio Kitchen---- hosts say there is nothing as tasty as a well-made classic plum pudding. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the holidays I’m apt to forget about dessert discipline and indulge in the occasional cookies or pies. This very natural inclination is far from rare and we’re going to do nothing to prevent you from enjoying the sweeter side of the holidays. Chef Jerry Pellegrino loves this topic and has collected a lovely bunch of recipes for delicious savory and sweet pies and tarts that sound quite temp...

During this festive season, we’re always looking for spectacular ways to entertain our guests. Any time you want to introduce an element of luxury into an affair, all you have to do is trot out the lobster, and your friends will bless your name. Chef Jerry Pellegrino has discovered you don’t always have to use the entire lobster to get a good dish. A simple lobster tail can do a lot of wonderful t...

The holidays are upon us, and a lot of folks are going to be cooking some pretty fancy dinners. Now, if you don’t want to do turkey again, may we make a modest suggestion? Hop right over to your favorite butcher and have him cut you up a rib roast of beef. Chef Jerry Pellegrino says, this is truly a festive cut of meat for big occasions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Thanksgiving looming, a lot of us are reaching back for old family recipes that will be perfect for the big feast. An important part of cooking with tradition in mind is cooking with the family's traditional pots and pans. That old cast iron skillet that Grandma swore by sits on the shelf just waiting to be put in the game. According to Chef Jerry Pellegrino, there's a few techniques people c...

All summer long we've been gazing fondly at the pepper tables of our local farmers markets. If you love color, texture and intricate shapes, then you can't beat peppers for sheer appearance. We don't know exactly how many varieties we grow here in Maryland, but peppers seem to thrive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us can't start our day without a cup of coffee or tea. As beverages go, these two are must-haves. But there's more you can do with that cuppa joe and pot of tea. Chef Jerry Pellegrino knows a number of ideas for using coffee and tea in cooking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What a long strange growing season it's been. Heat, rain, heat, rain all at the wrong time, it makes you wonder how are things going down on the Maryland farm? And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino points out, it's not hard to get answers if you shop at our local farmers markets. Early October is usually one of the richest market times of the year, but what about this year? See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Jerry is constantly looking for more ways to get more vegetables into his diet. One of the best and most versatile is to start using a wok, or something very much like it. According to Chef Jerry Pellegrino, the wok is a simple tool, but there are some techniques you can learn to make your stir fries go better. Here is some of his advice and a few recipes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

At any given time I can dig no fewer than five different mustards out of my refrigerator. A hot dog is not a hot dog unless it has classic Yellow Mustard on it, but all those others have so many uses. Chef Jerry Pellegrino and I asked our friend Liz Nuttle to come on and give us her take on this extraordinarily useful condiment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On a long ago vacation in the South of France I came across a dish that I brought home with me and made it a standard. Salad Nicoise is one of the easiest and most appealing salads I know. Chef Jerry Pellegrino says, even though we can't always get those classic tiny nicoise olives, we do have everything we need right here. But one thing I thought you needed, isn't one of the classic ingredients:...

There's an enormous variety of veggies out there in our Maryland markets and grocery stores. And as students at La Schola cooking school can tell you, one of life's treats is to go shopping with Chef Jerry Pellegrino and fill your basket with whatever captures your fancy at the farmers market. One thing you can do is whip up a vegetable-heavy summer casserole. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

During the cold of mid-winter it makes sense to warm our insides with big bowls of piping hot soup. So, conversely, wouldn't it make sense to cool down our tummies during the summer with bowls of fresh cold soups? Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School points out, so much of the summer produce can be used this way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During this season of grilling, some of us think that the process stops the moment we take the food off the grill. But you can really do a lot more to put together a fantastic plate. And as the French say, ----the sauce is everything.---- See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the time of the year when our local markets are at their prettiest, with all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables coming our way. Among the most eye-catching are Maryland peaches, in their soft yellow and orange splendor. And there are so many great ways to enjoy peaches. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summer is the season of the berry patch, the source of some of the most appealing fruit of the year. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries... gooseberries! We could go on and on, and you can eat 'em right off the bush, or you can take 'em home for some real fun. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the fleeting joys of summer is the soft shell crab. They seem to come and go in the marketplace, but when they're around, they're irresistible to a lot of Marylanders. To newcomers, the prospect of cleaning, cooking and eating these crustaceans is, frankly, quite daunting. But once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 4th, our great national holiday when we do our level best to celebrate with gusto. There's going to be a lot of grilling going on, and there is nobody better than Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School to give us a few shrewd hints on how to make the most of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't know, but I've seen it in the movies: Italians will eat pasta all year long. Whether it's in the bleak mid-winter or al fresco on a sunny summer afternoon, pasta is always there. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School will tell you, there seems to be quite a few pasta ideas that are appropriate for these warmer months. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was watching one of those cooking shows the other day, and a contestant decided to whip up a batch of panna cotta, the wonderfully light and fruity Italian dessert. I asked Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, since it's such an easy dish, why don't more people try it? And I think it's because the key ingredient is gelatin, something modern home cooks don't work with very often. We of...

Levening is what we do make dough rise and become much less dense. This actually involves somehow incorporating air into the mixture. Yeast, baking soda, baking powder and egg whites are the four most common mechanisms for levening dough. The secret is to cause a chemical reaction in the dough that will result in the creation of carbon dioxide. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, reacts with the a...

When the whole Eat Local movement got started in the Bay Area of San Francisco, foraging in the wild for healthy edible food became a signature activity. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley would dispatch dozens of volunteers to head out into the wilds and bring back baskets of amazing ingredients. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino points out, those of us living in ----the other Bay Area---- can d...

Spring is finally starting to feel like spring, and we are starting to sport the first new harvests of the year. This gives us a whole new set of options as we work out ways to celebrate this tender season. I told Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School, that I wanted to see if I could find any recipes for those two stalwarts of the season: spring lamb and spring onions. See omnystudio.com/...

Essentially there are three kinds of catfish: flatheads, channel, and blue. At this point just about any recipe that works for firm white fish will work here. Let's take a look at a basic fried catfish recipe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.