Fresh and Seasonal

“Chris loves Pork Chops anyway they are prepared.”

My friend, Lorraine Wallace, seems utterly dedicated to making her husband happy on Sundays! Chris anchors Fox News Sunday live each week, and Lorraine has taken that as her cue to make the evening meal especially welcoming.

I love comfort food and I love pork chops, so when I got my copy of Mr. and Mrs. Sunday's Suppers, the first recipes I checked out were for Pork Chops. I wasn’t disappointed: Pork Chops with Glazed Sweet Onions (perfect – Vidalia onions are coming into season) and Pizza Pork Chops!!! HUH?? Don’t expect pizza dough, but do count on all the delicious flavors that go into pizza sauce enhancing the chops.

(And, surprise! Next to the newly discovered recipe for Pizza Pork Chops, I see another fabulous recipe: “Linguini Con Vongole From the kitchen of Nancy Ellison.” That’s me!)

Lorraine’s cookbooks - besides MR & MRS SUNDAY’S SUPPPERS - include Mr. Sunday’s Soups, and Mr. Sunday’s Saturday Night Chicken. All of them emphasize fresh ingredients, simple recipes that compliment our busy, contemporary life style, and a sense of wellbeing.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I visited with Janice Cole at an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference when she told me she was working on a cookbook. She explained that this book would not be  just a collection of recipes. It would also tell the story about her experiences during her first year of raising her own hens. I was intrigued. I had no idea Janice Cole had chickens. She lived in the city, for heaven’s sake, in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. Yet she was raising chickens in her back yard.

Now, I have the just-published book, “Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes,” by Janice Cole. It’s like a good novel that you just can’t put down once you start reading. Cole’s book holds nine chapters, following the seasons of the year, broken down by early spring, mid-spring, summer, late summer all the way through late winter.

You’d never know by looking at my chubby exterior, but during the week we focus on a variety of healthy meals at home in an effort to balance the overindulgence, tastings, and big dinners that usually fill our weekends. And even if it weren’t for this health focus, if anything it’s to give my palate a rest from overactivity. But that doesn’t mean I enjoy sacrificing flavor because I do not; I need meals that incorporate great tastes as well as make me feel fantastic.  When I read that the editors of Whole Living Magazine were compiling their best recipes that feature the healthiest ingredients possible I knew I’d be in for a treat. And Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients doesn’t fail.

The book contains recipes that incorporate key ingredients that are not only delicious but good for you — things like berries, tomatoes and nuts. These foods have a tremendous impact on our health but none of that means a thing if you can’t find ways to actually prepare them and like them, a key to maintaining a successful diet. Power Foods gives you hundreds of ideas, but a favorite thing for me is the inclusion of the book’s Golden Rules, a collection of best practices for shopping and the kitchen.

Excerpt from Recipes from an Italian Summer by The Silver Spoon Kitchen, a collection of 400 never-before-published recipes that capture the essence, ease and freshness of Italian cooking. With beautiful photographs of the Italian countryside and many of the dishes, this book will inspire you to create your own perfect summer event.

Cooking outdoors is the perfect way to entertain during the summer months, and the scents and sounds of cooking on the barbecue create a wonderful appetite for a feast. Another advantage is that cooking on a barbecue means that nobody has to spend their time in the kitchen. A good barbecue should be very simple, and only requires good-quality ingredients to be grilled over hot embers, seasoned with salt and pepper, and perhaps drizzled with a little extra-virgin olive oil.

In Italy, the ancient Chianina breed of cattle produces steaks so highly prized that strict rules accompany the technique for grilling them, such as never pricking the meat with a fork so that tasty juices cannot escape. There are also many fish and vegetables that can be grilled very successfully, such as radicchio, eggplants, shrimp, and sardines. These are often cooked with fresh herbs and dressed simple with lemon and extra-virgin olive oil.

The recipes here can also be cooked indoors in a broiler, if a barbecue is not available. All they need to accompany them is a sald and some good bread.