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.

Posole (Mexican Chicken and Hominy Soup)

Posole (Mexican Chicken and Hominy Soup)

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 [...]

Country Captain with Coconut Rice

Country Captain with Coconut Rice

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 [...]

Chicken and Bacon Pot Pie with Sweet Potato Crust

Autumn is officially here, though the weather may be lagging behind a bit.  I saw my first lovely russet-hued oak leaf blowing across the patio the other day.  And I am ready.  I am ready for soups and stews, winter squash, apples, pears and maple syrup.  I am ready to get the [...]

Coronation Chicken Salad

This weekend, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee – sixty years on the throne.  When she was crowned (she became Queen when her father died in 1952, but the coronation was June 5, 1953),  Britain was still recovering from the wartime devastation, and rationing was still in effect for many foods.  But it [...]

Buttermilk Pecan Chicken with Herb Cream Gravy

I am a devotee of the transformative powers of buttermilk.  It makes chicken tender and biscuits light.  Cakes have a fine crumb and dressings a nice tang.  I use buttermilk whenever I can, and I go out of my way to buy the best, farm-fresh buttermilk available.  I make biscuits of all sorts, marinate [...]

Waffles and Hash (Chicken Hash with Cider Gravy)

This is, I suppose, a treasured family recipe.  For my entire life, both my mother and my aunt often waxed poetic about the favored meal of their childhood.  Waffles and Hash.  We were regaled at family meals about the tradition of having Waffles and Hash for Sunday night dinner.  Any mention of family food [...]

Chicken Pecan Bites with Blue Cheese Dip

Every community, particularly in the South, has those handful of classic community cookbooks that everyone seems to own, or haveaccess to, or just know about.  They are the reference points for the community table. Compiled by church auxiliaries, symphony leagues, historic societies, these treasure troves bind a community through the most essential love we [...]

Tuxedo Chili

Here we are again. The days are cold and a little gloomy, the holidays are over, and it is time for hunkering down at home. Right about now, I imagine everyone is craving a nice big bowl of warm, comforting goodness. It’s always nice to have a little twist on a classic, and mine [...]

Maple Mustard Chicken Salad

Back in the summer, I boasted to you that I am a chicken salad savant and that I have versions for every imaginable occasion and all seasons.  This is my favorite fall chicken salad, full of the crispy, crunchy, bold flavors of the season.  And yes, chicken salad is perfect in fall – it’s [...]

Chicken, Prosciutto and Rosemary Lasagna

A rut-buster.  That’s what this recipe is all about.  Veering off the road a little bit, getting out of the ordinary. Traditional lasagna is a good thing, make no mistake, but it’s nice to go in a different direction every once in a while.  Move away from the meat sauce to a creamy white [...]