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 [...]

Potato Kielbasa Chowder with Gouda and Dill

Potato Kielbasa Chowder with Gouda and Dill

Sometimes, good recipes don’t make good photos. They are just hard to make pretty.  This is one of those recipes.  I have tried for a while now to photograph this soup, to make it look like a magazine spread, to make it so perfect, your mouth-waters just looking at it.  But I can’t.  My [...]

Yogurt Biscuit Bites

Yogurt Biscuit Bites

During the winter soup season, it’s always nice to have a little bread-y bite next to your bowl.  And I don’t think there can be an easy recipe than this one.  Just a few ingredients and a thousand possible combinations and you have a nice, tangy little treat.

I generally make these plain, then [...]

Pear and Stilton Soup

Pear and Stilton Soup

I think the chilly winter is a great time to host a real, grown-up dinner party.  The holidays are over, school is back in session, everyone has had a chance to take a breath, and frankly, the social scene is a little slow.  During the holidays, I see virtually everyone I know, at parties [...]

Smoky Bacon and Onion Soup

Smoky Bacon and Onion Soup

I spend most of my time in the kitchen.  It’s my favorite space in this house, a house my father has always called a kitchen with a bedroom attached. It’s a large, open space, with a fully fitted kitchen, lots of counter space and a den attached where I do most of my work [...]

Fontina Cheese Toasties

Fontina Cheese Toasties

Melty cheese and crispy bread are the perfect pairing for soup, creamy or brothy. And this may be the ultimate soup sidecar.  If you are fan of the classic croque monsieur, this is basically just the top.  A creamy, cheesy béchamel sauce browned until bubbly on a good piece of bread.  I like it [...]

Roasted Garlic Soup

Roasted Garlic Soup

Winter is all about soup. I could eat a nice, steaming bowl of warming soup every day in the chilly months. A cup of summer tomato soup from the freezer for lunch with a simple sandwich, a hearty bowl with chunky bread and a good salad for dinner, even a little mug of leftover [...]

Chilled Vidalia Onion Soup

From April through October, during farmers market season, I rarely visit the produce section of the grocery store. Why bother when there is so much beautiful, fresh, in season produce at the markets.  I only seek out a few things that don’t grow here.  Lemons and limes, cherries from Michigan and Washington [...]

Squash Blossom Bisque

After last summer’s successful experiment with Squash Blossom Pesto, I have been thinking all winter of other ways to use the lovely summer blooms, and soup is the perfect choice.  This lovely, bright, sunny soup is very simple – I experimented with more complicated versions, using garlic and herbs and other ingredients, but I [...]

Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

It is that time of year.  I really need a big bowl of sunshine.  Fresh, local produce is between growth spurts, and I am generally a little tired of the dark, leafy greens that have dominated the farmers market for a while now.  Though we’ve had surprisingly spring-like weather, it is that transitional time.  [...]