I'm P.C., and I have studied food and cooking around the world, mostly by eating, but also through serious study. Coursework at Le Cordon Bleu London and intensive courses in Morocco, Thailand and France have broadened my culinary skill and palate. But my kitchen of choice is at home, cooking like most people, experimenting with unique but practical ideas.
I live, mostly in my kitchen, in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
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It’s always nice to whip up a simple, homemade dressing for a salad, and this one is really special. A little sweet from the berries with the nice summery hit of mint. And it’s a great way to use up some berries lingering in the fridge. I love it on a salad of fresh butter lettuce tossed with slice strawberries, salty feta or goat cheese and crunchy pecans. It also goes well with spinach, and is a nice dressing for a fruit salad too.
Strawberry Mint Vinaigrette
8 ounces hulled strawberries
1 small shallot, peeled and quartered
6 – 7 fresh mint leaves
¼ cup honey
¼ cup white wine or champagne vinegar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup vegetable oil
Place everything but the oil in the carafe of a blender and blend until completely smooth. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until you have a nice, emulsified dressing. Store the vinaigrette in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to three days in the fridge. Shake well before using
Makes about 2 cups
The strawberries are here, but with the exceedingly strange weather we’ve been having this year, I am a little worried it is going to be an abbreviated season. So I have been making the most of what I have. I keep a big colander of berries in the fridge and snack on them throughout [...]
Leaf through the pages of any old Southern community cookbook, and you are likely to come across a version of this cake. And it might not draw your eye, being so plain and simple. I am sure I flipped past many times before I actually stopped to read one. But once I get intrigued, [...]
One of the great joys of my life in food is meeting other food writers in amazing places. This winter, I had the great pleasure of spending an amazing week at a writing workshop in Tepotzlan, Mexico at Cocinar Mexicano. Iconic food writer Betty Fussell lead a spectacular group of women through [...]
Fennel is a new addition to my local farmers market. That’s the great thing about the rise of these local markets. Customers ask, farmers grow. Last year, it was a few experimental bulbs, this year it’s big bins of them. When I saw them last year, I was quick to pick up as many [...]
Country Captain is an old Low Country dish that dates from the days when Charleston and Savannah were important stops on the spice route, and the British influence of trade with India held sway. Early dishes from the Southern repertoire include lots of interesting spices, and the older the recipe, the more exotic it [...]
The first spring weekend of farmers market season is exciting. I am ready for all that fresh produce with a new treat arriving each week and little surprises on every visit. I know that I am closer to juicy strawberries, my first tomato in months, bright, sweet corn and so many things. I know [...]
Many years ago, I picked up a recipe card in the checkout line at a grocery store in London. It had a complicated fish recipe, but what attracted me was the artichoke tartar sauce. That card sat in my recipe file for years, until I rediscovered it and decided to give [...]
I don’t know who makes these decisions, but there is an endless list of “National Days” celebrating foods, dishes and ingredients. I recently saw that it was National Pecan Month, so I thought I better pull out a preparation for the iconic Southern nut. These are a salty, crunchy snack for the bar, or [...]
When you are the cook in the family, the special task of creating family celebration meals falls to you. It is an honor and a privilege and one I take very seriously. I always pay attention to what my family members like (and don’t) and my favorite kitchen task is devising and creating meals [...]
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