20 Questions with Laura

Laura Securro is a principal at a school in South Florida. Lucky them! She smiles wide at all times and we met when she was a first year teacher in Charleston, West Virginia. I was a volunteer with AmeriCorps Farm to School and she welcomed me into her classroom to do cooking demonstrations and tastings with her students any time, even sharing her cell number. She was new to the classroom and I was just getting started, too. Our passions for kids and food collided and we had the best time catching up recently.

Laura shared her devotion to cooking, a lifelong love her parents cultivated. Cooking is her hobby and a release when she gets home from a busy day at school. First things first, she gets into her comfy clothes, puts on some music and cooks up some fun! Tacos aren’t just for Tuesday, they are a staple for any night of the week when a quick meal is in order.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Tacos! I use that very broadly. I can literally do anything with that theme! I usually keep everything on hand for it. While you’re  browning your meat whether its beef, chicken, fish or shrimp, you get the rest going. Refried beans, slaw with crema. Taco seasoning goes a long way! If you don’t have a big thing of taco seasoning, I don't know why. Guacamole! I always have ripe avocados. My secret is a little olive oil and a LOT of lime juice! Salt and I’ll add in some chili powder, taco seasoning for a kick and chopped up red onions. I cook a batch of dried black beans for the week and use them. 

What’s your favorite city? My favorite place to go is a place I’ve never been. I love new experiences. Really, I would say Grand Rapids, Michigan where I went to college. They have Art Prize every fall. The whole city gets decorated by art by all the local artists. Great food, great night life. There’s a river that runs through. It gets rated as one of the top cities for young professionals.

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? Oh that’s a really loaded question. We live in Delray Beach. I’ll say Death or Glory, I have to give them a shout out! They go all out for Halloween and have some healthier spins on food. They do Cheeto dusted chickpeas. Fun drinks and good food. I love the Bear Shack, too. When you go out to a restaurant, you’re looking for good atmosphere, good food and drinks and a good time!

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? I’m the lemon queen! My father had this love of lemons. I start to get panicked if I’m down to one or two. I drink my water with lemon and I really think it enhances everything! Carrots are great with lemon.

Who taught you to cook? Both my parents. Not one more than the other. I’m 100% Lebanese. My mom made the best food, even fried chicken! My father made more of the everyday food. He could make even an average meal amazing! I watched them, loved being in the kitchen. I think when your parents enjoy it, it’s automatic for the kids.

What’s your go-to dish for company? A really good charcuterie board! There’s so many good things you can do with that for an appetizer. For the main dish I’ll do a big salad with garlic bread and chicken parmesan. I start with a good jarred sauce that I doctor up. I love mushrooms in my sauce. Lots of fresh parm on top. Makes a really good party night!

What’s on your cooking playlist? My top one is Laid Back Beach Music Radio on Pandora! I literally tell Alexa. Tied with Bob Marley. Makes you feel like you’re on vacation. 

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? That’s a hard one! I would probably pick kombucha over everything. I love kombucha! You feel healthy after you drink it. 

Date night--at home? or out? Date night in for sure. If my husband takes over he will make tuna tartare and some scallops. If I’m cooking, I make his favorite meal, a turkey meatloaf with cauliflower mashed potatoes. Really the best date night in is homemade pizza! You can go any direction with this, I try to encourage my friends to do this with their kids. 

Most stained cookbook? Probably my Lebanese cookbook. Or Hungry Girl. I used that all through college. Really easy recipes.

Surf? or Turf? Oh you’re killing me! I’ll say surf. I’ll always pick the scallops or crabcakes on the menu. We had a house on Cape Cod and grew up eating a ton of seafood

Indispensable kitchen tool? My lemon juicer, that old school one. Tied with a baking pan, I mean what would you do without a baking pan?!

Staple childhood comfort food? Macaroni and cheese. A good mac and cheese is...and I love making it homemade! I love a good homemade mac and cheese. 

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? I’m embarrassed to tell you.I watch the Housewives shows to unwind.  Bethany Frankel from the Housewives, she’s the Skinny Girl. She does a lot of giving back and she is really entertaining! 

Ideal grilled cheese? There would be no cheese I would leave out! I would put every cheese in the universe on it, including feta and havarti! Gouda, brie, everything. I would throw in some slices of bacon, too.

Favorite pizza topping? Mushrooms for sure.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I know this sounds so cliche, I mean Rome, Italy! With a grandma who will show us how it’s done! We had a trip to Italy planned, we’ll have to get there one day. 

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Is this my secret power kind of thing? I can make anything out of anything! Give me something random, throw me ingredients and I’m confident I will make something awesome! 

Three things next to your stove? Four things. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and pepper. 

Favorite Sports Team? I would say anything Michigan. Detroit Redwings. I do love going to hockey games! 

What do you miss most about Charleston? The seasons and the leaves changing. Wearing those fall clothes and being outside and enjoying the beautiful mountains! I miss my family and friends, the West Virginia people and PEPPERONI ROLLS! 

What’s the secret to perfect guacamole? Read ahead and cook along! (PS it’s red onion, tons of fresh lime juice, good salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Ohhhhh and of course the best ripe avocados)

Laura’s Guacamole

Laura is on autopilot when it comes to taco night. She varies the fillings but one thing is a constant: homemade guacamole. Keeping avocados on hand makes it an any time staple! As I made a batch per Laura’s instruction, I was reminded of the BEST guacamole ($19! And worth every penny) I’ve ever tasted. It, too, was finished with olive oil and had the dreamy consistency of velvety with perfectly ripe melt in your mouth chunks. The homemade version matches the $19 batch!

For one and a half ripe avocados, you’ll need half of a small red onion, finely chopped, the juice of a lime, more if the lime isn’t super juicy or you like it extra lime-y, about a half teaspoon coarse sea salt and a drizzle of good olive oil. Mash the whole avocado with the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the remaining half avocado and cut it in leaving soft chunks. Scoop into a serving bowl and drizzle with another splash of olive oil. Serve with your favorite tacos or chips, or straight from a spoon.

20 Questions with Emily

Emily Capece has the voice of an angel. She has graced stages and classrooms around the world with her gift of singing. Couple this with her acting talent and she is a one woman entertainer. We met in Charleston, West Virginia, where everybody knows everybody. As newcomers in our homes away from Charleston, Emily and I muse about our relative anonymity and our adoration of the place we called home for 20-something years. 

Emily’s song has quieted recently while she navigates a stage she never imagined: her now teenage son’s ultra ultra ultra rare cancer diagnosis and treatment. From her home near Cleveland, she praises a patient advocate in Los Angeles for guiding her and her family through this unrivaled trial. As we spoke last week, I could imagine her with sword and cape and a warrior’s shield, ready for battle. Woven through this heavy discussion, Emily’s gift of entertaining had me laughing out loud. It really is the best medicine.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Should I be pretentious or should I be real? Unfortunately I'm a slow cooker, so I don’t do many recipes in 20 minutes. My first job out of college, I taught music at an American elementary school on a base in Okinawa. I was so excited about being in a different culture! I learned this noodle dish, Otsu. It’s somen (skinny soba) with cucumbers, snow peas and tofu with a great dressing. I really like it room temp or even cold. It’s just delicious! I used to make it all the time when I lived alone. It’s so yummy and comforting, I can whip this up any time!

I had a lot of fun. I was there for 2 years, I met my husband Christian there my second year. He moved back to Washington and I decided he was worth following. 

What’s your favorite city? Vienna. I haven’t been there since way too long. I studied abroad there. It was amazing! I saw all the operas! I wandered around, I just loved it! Ten years later I got a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to go back for a summer program and study Mozart operas, a course for teachers. I’m a voice and music history major. I’m always talking about it! It’s a really special, beautiful artsy, musical place. It has all the things! I really love Cleveland, too! I grew up here, I needed to leave for 22 years to appreciate it. 

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? Oh yeah, I have a lot! I love a Oaxacan mole! I could eat mole with a spoon every day. Momocho on the west side of Cleveland. They have the BEST mole! And they make these flautas with butternut squash and goat cheese, with some frizzled brussels sprouts. I think about this daily.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? I always have a jar of Korean marmalade that I make into tea! It’s ginger and citrus and I really love it in cold and flu season. I’m always super happy to find that. 

Who taught you to cook? My mom for sure. She worked full time at Kent State University and came home every night and cooked dinner. In the 80’s in northeast Ohio you didn’t go out to eat. I didn’t know that having family dinners was unique or special. My grandmother was the cookie queen! I have all her recipe boxes. She had all this commentary on every recipe card. Every card has these opinions attached to it. Cooking is so great for those of us who want to be more creative in our lives

What’s your go-to dish for company? The roast chicken from Zuni Cafe, I just love that bread soaked up with all the chicken fat. You don’t have to have company for that! It’s just sooo good. It’s so easy. There are a lot of steps but it really is so easy! Christian and I found ourselves at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco eating this dish. I’m happy that it turns out at home. Was Yelp a thing back then? 

What’s on your cooking playlist? These days I’m listening to Brandi Carlisle. I just love a rock and roll female singer. Folk women who rock! 

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? COFFEE. She sings! 

With oat milk! You have to use a loooooot of oat milk to make it turn any color but black.

Date night--at home? or out? How can you have a date night at home with children? OUT obviously!

Most stained cookbook? Splendid Table How to Eat Supper by Lynn Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift.

Surf? or Turf? Definitely fish, definitely surf.

Indispensable kitchen tool? I’ve been carrying this around. It's a Tovolo. It’s like a little plastic scraper thing, one side is oval shaped and the other side is square. It’s the BEST thing to get peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar. It’s the bomb!

Staple childhood comfort food? My mom made these things called walking salads. We used to hike all the time as kids. You take a piece of cabbage spread with peanut butter, roll it up and shove a toothpick in it and you have a walking salad! It would show up in my lunchbox. It’s like celery with peanut butter. 

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? A lot of people. I have always loved Mary Oliver. Especially during this time, going out into nature. I would want to have a picnic under a tree and talk to her about what she observes! I need that grounding comfort in the things that are super simple. Right now I need somebody quiet. 

Ideal grilled cheese? I love sourdough or baguette, super toasted up, with brie, super thinly sliced granny smith apples and honey mustard.

Favorite pizza topping? Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil. Straight up. Simple is best!

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I love Thai food and Indian food and every time I try to replicate either of those, it never turns out. I’d say Thailand for sure. Send me to the experts!

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? If you cook with your child in the kitchen, they will eat what they make. If you just cook and present it at the dinner table, it’s hit or miss whether they will eat it. It can take a lot longer when they’re in there but it’s worth it.

Three things next to your stove? Olive oil, Dickinson salt, cat hair! We have 2 new kittens, Covid kittens! Every time I’m cooking she’s everywhere she’s not supposed to be. There is always a cat next to me. 

What do you miss most about Charleston? I miss the people. I miss seeing the little ones growing up, and I miss the Healthy Life Market. I love that place! 

Break out your chopsticks and add Emily’s Otsu to your 20 minute meal rotation! it’s as delicious as it is quick.

Emily’s Otsu

Emily walked me through her comforting japanese noodle dish and I’m adding it into instant rotation in my kitchen! Riff away! I went with a balanced blend of all her sauce suggestions, plus sesame seeds. Note about the somen: some brands can be soaked and some quick boiled. My brand didn’t do so well with soaking...so I boiled one of the bundles for about a minute without taking my stirring fork out of the pot and voila! 

Fry up a bunch of extra firm tofu, bite sized cubes, then throw some random oil in the pan, black pepper and soy sauce or tamari. Take it out of the pan. In the same pan, briefly stir fry snow peas and green onion, add cucumbers and cilantro at the end. Soak (or boil, see note above) the somen, top with the vegetables and tofu and drizzle with sauce. 

Emily says: the sauce  is what makes it! I riff on it, tamari, olive oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, a little honey, lemon, grated ginger, chopped garlic if i’m feeling it. Chili flakes. I really like it room temp or even cold. It’s just delicious!

20 Questions with Mayor Amy

Amy Goodwin is the mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, a lucky city to be in her capable hands! She’s the most energetic visionary and is as funny as she is smart. My face still hurts a bit from laughing when we chatted for this interview. She might claim here that she’s not much of a cook -- and anyone familiar with the Goodwin family knows Amy’s husband Booth is the mayor of their home kitchen. However, her 20-ish minute coconut rice recipe is a show stopper, game changer, life saver. All the things! Stop what you’re doing and make this rice, and maybe the peanut sauce, too, to quell your hunger.

Amy and I met at Holz Elementary where our kids were enough years apart that they didn’t even overlap in the lunchroom. As moms do, we collaborated on some PTA projects and all the while Amy excelled in her impressive day jobs. She translated her journalism degree into an exciting political career. Before she became the city’s first female mayor, she was the commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Tourism and the state’s number one cheerleader. Almost heaven, indeed!

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I was going to try to find one, I thought about lying to you about it, but I can’t do that. If I’m anything I’m honest. I’m the eater of the family, not the chef. My favorite thing to eat that I cook all the time is sweet and salty jasmine rice. Boil it in coconut milk, add some sugar and salt. It’s like a side and it’s also like dessert.  I make a triple recipe, my 16 year old and 18 year old love it! It’s great with peanut sauce with ginger (lots of garlic and ginger) 

What’s your favorite city? That’s silly. The city that I serve! Obviously I have lots of favorite cities, but this one is my favorite favorite favorite. I’m a rivers, lakes, creeks and streams girl. If I’m gonna get out of town I’ll go by a lake. I love the Eastern Panhandle and the Potomac.

What’s your favorite restaurant in your current city? You can’t do this to me! This is the problem, I’m an eater. When my husband travels, my boys know we are ordering out. What the question should be is what’s your favorite place to eat breakfast? To get a snack? I’m the girl who can make a meal out of getting an extra thick raspberry chocolate chip milkshake at Ellen’s! Barkadas is my ‘I’m sad cuz it’s bad weather’ restaurant and I get the crispy spam burrito and it’s pure comfort food. We have Food Truck Wednesday on Slack Plaza. My favorite is Bite Mi. Rock City has my favorite pastries. Favorite pie is Sarah’s Bakery. Have you had her pies?! Favorite brunch is Sam’s Uptown. That’s where we eat brunch! Chicken and waffles. So good! Best burger in town is Joe’s. Cheeseburger with everything except onions.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Something that doesn’t have mold on it? My boys eat constantly. There’s usually not much in there! Can it be in the freezer?

OK, then it’s ice cream that people have forgotten about. Those little vanilla mochis. 

Who taught you to cook? OK ok, listen. One thing you know about me is I’m honest! This is how I think people learn how to cook, they learn from their parents. My parents worked constantly so we ate out of a crockpot or we went out to eat. The person who actually taught me the most is Hello Fresh, the meal kit that gets delivered with clear how-to instructions. I really do have a lot of good skill sets, but cooking is not one of them.

What’s your go-to dish for company? Booth cooking on the Green Egg is always a crowd pleaser. I can whip up a low country boil if people who are coming don’t have food allergies. Homemade pizzas on the Big Green Egg are always a big hit! I keep beating up on myself. I’ll tell you I make the best homemade chocolate chip cookies. I make them for the fire department, the police department. If they see me coming with a box in my hand they know what's in there.

What’s on your cooking playlist? I love alternative music, punk rock!

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? OMG coffee 24/7. Coffee, coffee, coffee all day long! Like my old newsroom days. I like it to be khaki color. Not sweet, though I might have a cookie with it. 

Date night--at home? or out?  I just did a story on our city finances. That was easier than this interview! It’s always a split. When I pick, it’s out, when he picks, it’s in. He likes kitchen gadgets and always wants to try out the new ones.

Most stained cookbook? I have hundreds of cookbooks, I like to read them like a magazine. Before I was in public office when I had more time, it was Chrissy Teigen, her first book. Also stuff my sister texts me. If this interview was about cleaning the home I would crush this. I was the cleaner growing up. My sister did all the cooking. 

Surf? or Turf? Both? 

Indispensable kitchen tool? I would say my really heavy marble rolling pin! I like to bake. 

Staple childhood comfort food? Anything out of the crockpot. I grew up in the northern panhandle, lots of Italian food. I love a good red sauce with bread to dip in it.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she is so wicked smart, fabulous, wonderful. I just really love her. I love her! Just to be in her presence.

Ideal grilled cheese? OOHHH! Three different types of cheeses on my father in law’s homemade bread. Oh and that bread is great for french toast, too.

Favorite pizza topping? Mushrooms! Lola’s mushroom pizza is crazy good!

Where would you want to take a cooking class? In Jennifer Garner’s kitchen. I’m not being funny about it. I think she would be really nice, she wouldn’t tell me I’m using the wrong knife.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Be prepared for company. Always have good cheese, crackers, nuts and olives, oh and some wine, and people will think you’ve been planning on their arrival.

Three things next to your stove? I have a big planter filled with fresh herbs, my salt pig, four different types of olive oil. Lots of different pepper mills that Booth buys. Lots of hot sauces, I think I have more hot sauces than anyone in Charleston.

Favorite Sports Team? Now what does this have to do with cooking? You know I’m a hockey mom! Pittsburgh penguins.

Sweet and salty coconut rice ready for topping your way. I went with roasted peanuts, lime, red pepper flakes, toasted coconut and fresh cilantro.

Mayor Amy’s Sweet and Salty Coconut Rice

I asked Amy if she makes this recipe in a rice cooker and she replied that’s not one of the zillions of kitchen gadgets in the Goodwin home. So I challenged her that I would try making it in the rice cooker* (talk about game changer! Mine is new this year and I am in love!) and that if it worked, I owe her a rice cooker. Order pending!

1 ½ cups jasmine rice, a can of FULL FAT coconut milk, fill the can with water, ¼ cup sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons. JQ Dickinson salt

COMBINE all ingredients in a medium saucepan (with a tight fitting lid). Bring to a low boil, stir, then reduce heat to low and simmer with the lid on until rice is done, about 20 minutes.

*works splendidly in my rice cooker! when it was ‘done’ I gave it a stir and pressed the cook button again to give it a few extra minutes of full heat. The bottom got a little golden but didn’t stick.

Bonus recipe for Mayor Amy’s peanut sauce in her words:

½ c. peanut butter, all natural is best, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger. (I use ginger on almost everything, I even put it on my toothbrush!’ she said) 1 tablespoon sriracha if you want to kick it up! 5 cloves of garlic, minced or grated. Mix it all up. This recipe saves me! I stole it from Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook Cravings.

20 Questions with Kim

Kim Dolan is a pastry chef and instructor, a home cook who loves feeding family and friends, a food writer and photographer, and an accomplished triathlete who could boast a long list of accolades but she’s much too humble to brag on herself. She unexpectedly became a vocal advocate for organ donation not quite four years ago. (Dear Reader, if you aren’t yet registered to be an organ donor, please do it now. THANK YOU!)

Instead of hitting the slopes with her kids as she had planned at Christmastime 2016, she went to the hospital to find out why she wasn’t feeling right. Fast forward eleven very long months, Kim’s failing heart was replaced at age 57 with one donated by Leanne, a younger woman whose life was cut short. Kim’s focus shifted from teaching to surviving and now volunteers with Donate Life America. She’s a walking talking testimony to the urgency of organ donation. 

We met at Molly O’Neill’s Food Media Bootcamp six years ago and again at Molly’s Longhouse Food Revival. Kim arrived with a windowed bakery box filled with too pretty to eat pastries she had made with her students at Johnson and Wales University. I was lucky to be her roommate! Her pretty pastries tasted even better than they looked.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Oh blueberry muffins for sure! Easy easy! No mix! 

What’s your favorite city? San Francisco, I just love the views, it’s so beautiful! I just love it there.

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? It’s so hard to say because we haven’t been out! I live in Barrington, Rhode Island, close to Warren. In Warren it would be Eli’s. He actually won Chopped. We used to go there every Friday night. My go-to restaurant for special occasions is Nick’s on Broadway in the west end of Providence.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Strawberry rhubarb jam that I make. There’s always a jar of that!

Who taught you to cook? I’d say I had influences with my mom and grandmother, but I pretty much taught myself to cook. When i was a sophomore in high school I wanted to become a vegetarian (lasted 2 years until I craved a sausage sandwich!) and my mom said ok but you need to do the cooking. The Moosewood Cookbook got me through that.

What’s your go-to dish for company? I take bone-in chicken and braise it in the oven with a North Carolina barbecue sauce with cider vinegar and brown sugar, a little ketchup. Cook it until it’s falling off the bone and serve it with coleslaw and mashed potatoes. It’s so easy! Cook it 325 for about 3 hours. 

What’s on your cooking playlist? I listen to Pandora, the playlist is Hipster Cocktail Party

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee, lots of milk, no sugar.

Date night--at home? or out? Out. When the bans are lifted we will go to Nick’s on Broadway.

Most stained cookbook? That is a really hard one! I still go back to the Silver Palate cookbooks. I find those really great to get ideas from that one and take off from there. I also like Ina Garten’s books. These have simple recipes that can be adjusted to what we like. I love my French Laundry cookbook from Thomas Keller, but it stays on my coffee table.

Surf? or Turf? Turf. I love a filet! Just with olive oil, salt, and LOTS of cracked pepper, grilled medium rare. Makes my mouth water just talking about it.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Rubber spatula. I have about 4.

Staple childhood comfort food? Campbell’s tomato soup with shell pasta. Cook the shells separately and put them in the tomato soup.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Julia Child.

Ideal grilled cheese? White Wonder bread with American cheese. That’s why I don’t eat them very often. Sautéed in butter. I first melt the butter and brush it on the bread and cook it with another skillet on top.

Favorite pizza topping? I like just plain ol’ cheese and pepperoni. 

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Tuscany. Mark and I were supposed to go to Italy and then this happened. That’s ok, we’ll get there.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Always use butter! In your icing, puff pastry, pie dough, cookies. It has to be butter.

Go to butter? I use Land O Lakes and I prefer the salted butter, even for buttercream.

Three things next to your stove? KitchenAid mixer, Kinfolk Table Cookbook and a Pennsylvania Dutch crock filled with my utensils. My cucumbers are on deck because I’m making pickles tomorrow. I also have my jars of tomato sauce and raspberry jam that I just made. 

Favorite Sports Team? The Patriots. My husband’s a real good football fan!

Kim’s blueberry muffins, always featured at girlfriends’ weekends. Kim awakes just a little earlier than everyone else so there are warm muffins ready. Photo credit Kim Dolan

Kim’s Blueberry Muffins

No weekend getaway is complete without a batch of warm muffins! Kim’s version is adapted from the New York Cookbook by Molly O’Neill.

WHISK all together in a large mixing bowl:

• 4 ounces melted butter

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 eggs

• ½ cup plain yogurt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

COMBINE in a medium bowl and add to the butter-sugar-egg mixture:

• 2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

FOLD IN:

• 1 cup blueberries

LINE a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and divide batter among the cups.

BAKE at 350 until muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out with moist crumbs, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool briefly on a wire rack before removing from the pan. Enjoy warm. Happy Cooking!

20 Questions with Lisa

The Red Stick Farmer’s Market hums with activity every Saturday, rain or shine, in downtown Baton Rouge. I discovered this unique farmer’s market on a pre-move visit and was captivated by the brass band and strawberry perfume. After the big move I met Lisa Gray, the manager of Red Stick Mobile Farmers Market and coordinator of school garden projects. 

At the market, seasonal selections and friendly farmers lure locavores from nearby parishes. Behind the scenes, Lisa hauls local produce in a jazzed up trailer to sell in the far reaches of the community. She also plants and tends school gardens where the students learn the essentials from seeds and soil to flowers and harvest. I’ve had the honor of working alongside her and it’s incredible to witness the joy the kids get in their outdoor classroom.

Lisa has called Baton Rouge home for all but one year of her life. During her year away, she worked with the CDC in Atlanta. In her words, “the experience was great but I wanted to get back home to farm life. I gotta get back home and work with farm animals.” She took a job with the Ag Center at Southern University as a research associate before her now seven year tenure with Red Stick Market.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Shrimp fried rice. I get the shrimp peeled and deveined from Anna Marie’s and use brown rice that’s leftover from another meal. I get as much from Red Stick Market as I can. Carrots from Fekete Farms, onions and green onions, orange or red bell pepper, pasture raised farm eggs and frozen peas that I buy. I use sesame oil and soy sauce while I’m cooking. I use the whole pound of shrimp! I call it the Real Shrimp Fried Rice. 

What’s your favorite city? I would love to travel to Washington, DC now. I’ve been there a lot in the past, it’s one of my favorites. People are really nice there.

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? I like Pimanyoli’s on Airline. They specialize in smoked meats and classic American dishes, and they have hot tamales, a recipe from their family that’s like 100 years old. The owner’s father was a sergeant on the police force at Southern University.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Maybe some pickled okra

Who taught you to cook? My grandmother. She raised me, I was always in the kitchen with her. One of her specialties, my favorite, was her peach cobbler. My uncles always request it. 

What’s your go-to dish for company? I would do some beef and shrimp kabobs or an okra, shrimp, tomato and smoked sausage stew served over rice.

What’s on your cooking playlist? Lauren Hill, Erykah Badu.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Tea. 

Date night--at home? or out? Right now?! At home.

Most stained cookbook? River Road. My grandmother used to use it. I still have hers and just got a new one from the Junior League. My uncle in Texas is holding on to my grandmother’s.

Surf? or Turf? Surf.

Indispensable kitchen tool? My whisk.

Staple childhood comfort food? Chicken and dumplings. That was easy!

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? My grandmother.

Ideal grilled cheese? I’m pretty plain when it comes to grilled cheese. I like it with cheddar.

Favorite pizza topping? One of my favorites is pickled banana pepper

Where would you want to take a cooking class? Italy and learn how to make a classic red sauce, the type that takes hours.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? I don’t like to overcomplicate with a lot of ingredients. I like to keep it simple. If I can wing it without a lot of ingredients, that’s what I prefer.

Three things next to your stove? A trivet, canisters with flour and sugar, tool caddy.

Favorite Sports Team? Of course The Saints!! 

A trip to the Red Stick Farmer’s Market transforms yesterday’s extra rice into a gourmet meal in minutes!

Lisa’s Real Shrimp Fried Rice

A trip to the Red Stick Market will elevate your next batch of fried rice to the next level of delicious! Gather your ingredients and your fried rice masterpiece is ready in minutes.

• 1 pound medium sized peeled and deveined shrimp, drained and patted dry

• Salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided use

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 sweet bell pepper, chopped

• 1 large carrot, grated

• 2 eggs, whisked to blend in a small bowl

• 3 cups cooked rice

• ½ cup frozen peas

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

• 3 green onions, thinly sliced

TOSS the shrimp with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

HEAT 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet or wok over medium-high heat. 

ADD the shrimp and cook, turning once, just until they turn opaque, about a minute or two per side. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate.

ADD the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and cook until just tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the grated carrot, toss to combine, then push the vegetables to the perimeter of the skillet to make room for cooking the ‘egg pancake.’

POUR the remaining 1 tablespoon oil into the bottom of the skillet and add the whisked egg. Let it sizzle and cook in one layer, just until it is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Chop the cooked egg into small pieces in the skillet with a spatula and push it out to the perimeter with the vegetables.

ADD the rice to the center of the skillet and cook a minute or two to heat the rice through. Stir in the peas, soy sauce and sesame oil and toss it all together in the skillet incorporating the vegetables and egg from the perimeter. Stir in the cooked shrimp and green onions and serve. Happy Cooking!

20 Questions with Paul

Paul Smith is an ambassador of his hometown Charleston, West Virginia and recognized affectionately as Chef Paul wherever he goes. In his words, he’s from a huge large Italian family where they had Sunday dinner every week in Boomer, West Virginia. He was studying hospitality management out of state, then returned home to study in professional kitchens before diving in to the Culinary Institute of America. After zigzagging around the country, gaining experience with some enviable cooking adventures, Chef Paul landed back at home in 2007. 

Paul and I first met in the kitchen at Lola’s, our mutual friend Cary’s pizza restaurant. When Cary’s maternity leave had her exiting sooner than expected, a team of friends held down the fort. Paul anchored the crew and it is by his side that I learned the fine muscle building art of hand shaping two pizza dough balls at a time. He could triple time anyone in the kitchen! 

Chef Paul became well established as an expert on all things food and just before the world went a little haywire, he was embarking on three Charleston area restaurant projects. As we were talking at 1010 Bridge as evening service was about to begin, he picked up a call for his regular Monday afternoon radio interview. I heard him say, “It’s a tough time right now. The entire industry is in jeopardy. I'm not super optimistic that things are gonna change anytime soon.” When the call wrapped up he resumed with me, “our food is GOOD! We pay attention to the details, it’s the experience” regarding the Bridge Road spot, adding “this is the food I like to cook. The Pitch is the food I like to eat.” (upscale bar food). His third restaurant is Barkadas, a collaboration of four friends that introduces its diners fo Phillippine island staples kissed with additional influences. As I visit this charming town I left four years ago, my first stop was Barkadas. Don’t miss it! 

What’s your 20 minute recipe? When I don’t have time to cook, this is what I make. I get salmon from Joe’s (now General Steak and Seafood). I make a little salmon slather with mayo, dijon, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. I quick sear the salmon first then turn it over and put on the slather and finish it in a hot oven. It’s literally like 5 minutes. We actually have a version of it on the menu here (at 1010 Bridge).

What’s your favorite city? Charleston, South Carolina. I really like the scene there.

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? I’m partial. If it’s not one of my three, I’d say Sam’s for what it is: good food, everything is solid!

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? I have some weird stuff in there. I found some rendered foie gras fat in the freezer. I rendered it together with some butter and JQ Dickinson salt and spread it on some good toast.

Who taught you to cook? My grandfather. He was a chemist and he did Friday night Italian nights at the Glen Ferris Inn. I stood on a milk crate and stirred the sauce. I wish I had paid more attention and written down the recipes.

What’s your go-to dish for company? Pimiento cheese with some sort of grilled meat, probably ribeye.

What’s on your cooking playlist? A lot of old school hip hop, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, WuTang Clan, Diggable Planets.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Pardon?! Coffee on coffee, as I’m having my seventh cup of the day. I’m alternating coffee and Topo Chico.

Date night--at home? or out? Date night OUT. I’m not of those chefs who sits there and tries to critique the place. Well, maybe I do it in my head.

Most stained cookbook? The little green Lebanese cookbook with the black binder form the Greek Orthodox Church. Also I’m a big fan of Tyler Florence.

Surf? or Turf? TURF. Spinalis, cap of the ribeye.

Indispensable kitchen tool? French knife, 8-inch chef’s.

Staple childhood comfort food? Pastina, little pearl pasta with a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese and either chicken broth if I’m sick or butter if I’m feeling frisky.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Julia Child and Jennifer Garner. I would really like to be on Jennifer Garner’s Pretend Cooking Show. I like watching her because she is so smart and fun. She’s so down to earth and successful, very approachable. I would love to talk to her about our shared love of West Virginia.

What’s your go-to butter? Plugra

Ideal grilled cheese? Good bread, a really nice pullman loaf with white American and good Tillamook cheddar, a slice of tomato and mayo on the inside, butter on the outside.

Favorite pizza topping? Cupping pepperoni, it gives you a charred edge with a little grease shot. We do it at The Pitch.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? El Bulli.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Keep it simple. Pat dry, S&P, hard sear. For anything!

Three things next to your stove? Olive oil, salt and pepper

Best meal in an airport? Rick Bayless’s Torta Frontera in Chicago.

Do you take any ingredients with you when you travel? No, I like to bring things back.

What’s your go-to olive oil? Napa Valley Olive Oil Company and I really like the Villa DiTrapano. They are really different. 

Favorite Sports Team? I like watching any of the EPL (English Premier League)

Salmon Chef Paul’s way. My interpretation: served with the best of late summer from Capitol Market and Charleston Bread, cooked in my friend Pam’s kitchen. Happy Cooking indeed!

Chef Paul’s Seared Salmon

“Serve this with some simple seasonal things on the side. Beautifully seasoned jewel lettuce salad or a fall-ish root vegetable succotash. My philosophy: cook as seasonally as possible, do as little as possible.”

For four skin-on salmon filets, combine 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, zest of 1 lemon, juice of ¼ lemon (cube or slice the remainder for the top), ¼ teaspoon salt and a couple good cracks of pepper (white pepper preferred).

Heat your oven to 425 and heat a large oven-proof/cast iron skillet over a medium high burner. Season the flesh side of the salmon filets with salt and pepper. When the skillet is HOT, lay the filets in the skillet flesh side down and sear for a good minute. Turn them over skin side down and top each with some of the mayo mixture, spreading with a brush. Slide the skillet into the oven and roast the filets for a few minutes until the top is golden and the fish is as done as you like. If you want a bubbling top ‘crust’ hit it with the broiler for no more than a minute so as not to over cook the fish. Happy Cooking!

20 Questions with Tammi

“There’s no way a movie script can come close!” according to a good friend of Tammi Arender regarding our ‘how did this happen?’ friendship. A new-to-Charleston news anchor from Louisiana with a passion for cooking and a show (WOWKitchen) invited me to join her for one of her cooking segments. We made Personal Peach Pies on TV and continued with some more kitchen fun. This was five years ago and I had just published my first cookbook which Tammi was happy to promote. She wasn’t too happy about living in West Virginia and as I tried to win her over, she announced:

GIRL you’re too late. I’m going home!

I think she lived in West Virginia for about a hot minute. I stayed 24 years, true love.

The following Spring, one snowstorm too many and a well timed job offer had me uprooting from West Virginia to sunny South Louisiana. I messaged Tammi, ‘guess who’s moving to Baton Rouge?’ and her reply: 

GIRL, get OUT! 

We reunited at the LSU v Alabama game and from time to time when she visited from north to south. Then she left last fall to work for the Ag Network in Nashville, reminding me, “I’m a farm girl from Tallulah, Louisiana. These are my roots!” She’s been zigzagging since and as we caught up last week, she was on the road from Dallas to Nashville where she’s lived on and off for 17 years to return to the anchor desk for RFDTV. She will be on the air September 14.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I don’t really have a Tex-Mex background, but I will put ANYTHING on a quesadilla! As long as I’ve got a tortilla and some cheese, I can turn a quesadilla into a gourmet meal. It just depends on what’s left in the fridge. I like to roast a whole chicken and debone it and store it in little baggies. I’ll put that on there with homemade pesto and my go-to Swiss cheese and a slice of cornmeal candied bacon. Let it get bubbly under the broiler, fold it over and I’m in heaven. I’ll jog from Baton Rouge to Gonzales to eat what I want.

What’s your favorite city? My favorite city that has my heart is Tallulah, Louisiana where I was raised. She’s crying. I was raised on a farm there. That’s HOME! I quit a job, sold a house and a Harley Davidson and moved to Nashville. NOT to become a country singer. I moved there to cover the Country Music Awards. I knew it was the place where I wanted to live and work. It’s the only other place on the planet I felt like could be home aside from Louisiana. It’s the perfect combo of country and city having all the advantages of big city but it still has that country hometown feel. Also, I’m a sports fanatic! If you’re a sports fan, you love Nashville (I confess I’ve never been! “Oh girl, you have GOT to come!”)

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? Oh wow, well when I go home it’s the Waterfront Grill in Monroe, Louisiana and for so many reasons. The food is phenomenal and the location! It’s on the banks of the Bayou DeSiard across from the University of Louisiana Monroe where I went to school. The dish is called Catfish DeSiard and it is fabulous! I know it’s three and a half hours from Baton Rouge, but you have GOT to go!

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? You can never ever come to my house and I not have it. It’s my Geaux Nuts mixture, a great snack and something I crave. Walnuts, cashews and pecans and I don’t overdo the sugar so it’s not candied. I roast them with a little melted butter and a secret ingredient. Here’s a hint: it’s not cayenne! I’m on an 11 hour trip and made a batch of Geaux Nuts before I left so I’ll arrive in Nashville with this and won’t starve to death before I unpack my kitchen. 

Who taught you to cook? Myself! I would say my daddy because he LOVED to cook. I watched him, but I was such a tomboy that I stayed outside on a horse or the Harley. Then one winter when I was living in Baton Rouge I decided to make handmade bread rolls like the bread at the Little Village restaurant. I thought I’m gonna try to make that bread and that’s what got me addicted to cooking 20 years ago. My mother collected cookbooks and I started reading them like John Grisham novels. It became an obsession with cooking and baking!

What’s your go-to dish for company? It would have to be my shrimp and grits. 

What’s on your cooking playlist? I’m a country music fan first of all. Tim McGraw! And I love Michael W. Smith, old school Christian music. And Danny Gokey! I absolutely adore him and Steve Wariner, too. My playlist is the strangest combo of Christian and country music that you have ever heard.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? COFFEE!! Don’t even mention the others. I love CC’s dark roast. I used to have it shipped to me three bags at a time in Nashville. Now I can get it in the store there. 

Date night--at home? or out? Skip date night, let’s not go there!

Most stained cookbook? Louisiana Festivals by Enola Prudhomme. She signed it! When I was with WBRZ she and Paul would cook for our show. Actually Paul would come to us and we had to go to Enola in Lafayette. That cookbook has stayed with me for the last 25 years. I move around a lot!

Surf? or Turf? I’m gonna have to say a combo. A well-cooked steak is hard to beat. As a Louisiana girl I can’t say no to shrimp or crawfish.

Indispensable kitchen tool? I’m a good knife girl. I didn’t realize how special a good sharp knife is! Such a valuable tool in the kitchen no matter how much it costs. I’m a sweet potato freak! They are hard to cut. You’ve got to have a good knife.

Staple childhood comfort food? My dad was the cook in the family, but my mom! The one thing she made that I can’t replicate and neither can my sister is my mom’s banana pudding. When I need to feel comfortable I look for something close. That’s my goal in life is to crack the code of Gloria Arender’s banana pudding.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Is it too cliche to say Jesus? I would have loved in his day and time to just have a normal conversion about life! Here’s a food related question to Jesus. Why on earth was an apple the fall of mankind?

Ideal grilled cheese? I am the ultimate grilled cheese girl. I want it done in a skillet, four cheeses and one of them has to be that processed cheese in the little wrappers, plus Swiss, cheddar and parmesan. If I have all those in my fridge, it’s going on there. I’ll cook it in the Iron skillet and put one on top for a 1920’s panini. 

Favorite pizza topping? I’m an Italian sausage girl.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? In Paris, France. I’ve conquered southern home cooking and frou frou cooking has never been my deal. If I ever have the money I’ll go spend six months at Le Cordon Bleu.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Don’t skip good quality ingredients. My tastebuds rule my world. Use real butter. Use good bacon. Use high quality vanilla. Food is our connection to people. Skip the mani-pedi’s, skip the jewelry and fancy clothing. Don’t skimp on food.

Three things next to your stove? I infuse my own olive oil with garlic and lemon, so it’s there. The Louisiana Festival Cookbook stays on the counter. I leave the butter out on my grandmother’s butter dish.

Favorite Sports Team? I lived in Nashville when the city bought the Houston Oilers and turned them into the Tennessee Titans. I became a Titans fan because I was so invested. There was never a time in my life when I wasn’t rooting for the Saints!

From oven to plate in minutes! Pesto, cheese, white beans and sausage melted inside a tortilla. Instant fiesta!

Quickie Quesadilla—A gourmet meal inside a tortilla

Tammi says “I will put ANYTHING in a quesadilla” and her go-to is with fridge staples pesto, Swiss cheese, chicken and cornmeal candied bacon. I went with what I had on hand: pesto, Jack cheese, white beans and sausage crumbles from Iverstine’s. 

HEAT your broiler to low or high (your oven, your call) with the rack placed a few inches below. BRUSH a large tortilla with olive oil and place it on a baking sheet. Quick toast it under the broiler just until it gets blistered. Remove from the oven and flip the tortilla over. Top with a good smear of pesto or other sauce of your choosing, a good handful of grated cheese (please DIY) and some cooked veggies or meat (again your call). COOK this creation under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove your open face quesadilla to a plate, fold it in half and serve with salsa or more pesto if you like.

20 Questions with Jan

Jan Oed is my badass sister in law and joined our family officially 40 years ago when she married my brother, John. She melded with our family when I was so young I hardly know life without her. My brother hit the jackpot! I will never forget Jan inviting me to bake cookies with her mom when I was in second grade. They introduced me to those ‘Magic Cookie Bars’ which were way out of my repertoire of the classic chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal. Though the details of the other recipes we made escape me, I remember thinking I’d be home late for dinner which didn’t matter because I was well nourished with homemade cookies. 

Jan can whip up a five star meal with what’s on hand, assemble a gorgeous charcuterie board for friends stopping by, or cater a feast for hundreds. She catered my wedding! And she recently surprised my mom and me with a beautiful brunch after church, popping up a little canopy in her driveway and serving up eggs benedict with the works, all accompanied by tropical flowers from her backyard. For 12 years and running, she’s been a volunteer chef with The Haven for Children, preparing and delivering dinner once a month.

Her adventure extends beyond the kitchen. You can find her visiting her son in Puerto Rico, wandering the wilds of Morocco, or enjoying her local beach. Her Labor Day trip to the Wine Country is put on hold for a safer date in the future.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? I wanna tell you I tried this really cool quick recipe for boneless chicken thighs. You season them and coat them in fresh herbs and cook them in a little olive oil in a super hot skillet. Five minutes each side, then move them to the edge and make the sauce in the middle. It’s a little quickie thing I did the other day and it made great leftovers! We have a rating system at our house. WOW is the best, then YUM is the second best. GOOD is not worth repeating.

What’s your favorite city? I’m gonna say Barcelona because I love that walking area with all the tapas bars with the chalkboards out front. It’s so fun to peruse. I love the tapas thing!

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? Giggles. Is that a trick question?! Fat Snook in Cocoa Beach. Local seafood, innovative dinners, presentations and desserts. Also they have cool, lesser known wines.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? A chunk of bread from somewhere I’ve traveled. We don’t have a bakery here. I usually bring bread back in my carry-on.

Who taught you to cook? My mom and my home-ec teacher at Mel-Hi, and digging through cookbooks, just jumping in!

What’s your go-to dish for company? The easiest one is Tyler Florence’s pulled pork recipe. Its quickie-easy and everybody loves it!

What’s on your cooking playlist? I put the radio on Jack FM. There’s a big variety, everything from Fleetwood Mac, to Guns N Roses, Maroon 5 and Jazz. You never know what’s coming up next.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee in the morning, kombucha in the afternoon. I like the green one from GT.

Date night--at home? or out? If we’re gonna call it date night, we’re going out.

Most stained cookbook? Probably my binders collection! I have three big binders all categorized and bulging with recipes I’ve printed off. There are definitely a lot of stained pages in there.

Surf? or Turf? Depends on where I am. I’d probably lean toward a combo. If it was really good fresh seafood, I would go with surf.

What’s your go-to olive oil? I look for the country of origin and the extra virgin part, definitely from Spain or Portugal. I pick them up at TJ Maxx or Home Goods. I keep a varied selection on hand.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Probably a toss up between an immersion blender and a microplane. I couldn’t do without either of those.

Staple childhood comfort food? Maybe my mom’s homemade fudge. That’s such a treat! I have her recipe but I never make it. It is super chocolatey.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? Anthony Bourdain. In the country of his choice. I love that you could transport far away through his travel shows. He always interviewed the most interesting diverse people. 

Favorite pizza topping? Pesto with bacon and either burrata or fresh mozzarella. You cook it with raw kale on top and it gets super crispy. With the cheese, it’s insane. 

Where would you want to take a cooking class? In Spain with Jose Andres. I really want to learn how to make grilled octopus or anything he wants to teach me to cook. He’s so cool! He seems very generous and spirited!

Do you pack any ingredients with you when you travel? Almond flour and vanilla extract, but I can’t put that in a carry-on.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Explore new recipes, just jump in and have fun cooking! It gives you a broader scope. It’s OK if it doesn’t turn out perfectly.

Three things next to your stove? A selection of oils, a few different salts and a big utensil caddy. All three categories are essential.

Favorite Sports Team? I’m gonna have to go with Miami Dolphins. I’ve been watching them since back in the day when Howard Cosell was the commentator. 

20 minutes? You better believe it! As delicious as it is quick!

Herb Crusted Chicken Thighs with Garlic Glaze

Boneless chicken thighs are a girl’s best friend. They cook quickly without drying out. Break out your biggest/best skillet for this dish and be ready for YUM!

• 1 ½  pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6-8 fillets)

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• ¾  teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

• Heaping half cup of chopped fresh herbs (I used rosemary and thyme, Jan uses oregano and rosemary)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

• ¼ cup white wine

• ½ cup chicken broth

COMBINE the onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl and season the chicken on both sides with the mixture. 

SPRINKLE the mixed herbs over both sides of the chicken and press to adhere.

HEAT the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil ripples, give the skillet a swirl and add the chicken in one layer.

SEAR the chicken for 5 minutes, adjusting the heat so you get a nice sizzle without smoking.

TURN and cook the second side for 5 minutes. Move the chicken to the perimeter of the pan, then melt the butter in the center and add the garlic.

STIR just until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high and add the wine and chicken broth, stirring to incorporate browned bits.

REDUCE the heat to medium-low and return the chicken to the center of the pan. Baste with the sauce and let simmer a few minutes until chicken is cooked through.

SERVE with good bread and sauteed spinach.

20 Questions with Tatiana

Tatiana is the daughter of Ignacio, a gregarious Spanish man who lived with my family in coastal Florida during his teen years in the ‘60’s. I met her when we were both little girls, barefoot in our bikinis, racing ahead of the adults from my house down to the beach. When Ignacio first said goodbye, I was an infant on my mother’s hip. He assured my mother he would be back some day and as promised, he brought his wife and his two oldest children for an unforgettable reunion a dozen years later. Then again 20 years after that for my mom’s 70th birthday they extended the invitation “you must come see us in Spain!” And so my husband and I packed up our three girls and ventured to southern Spain to see our extended family.

In the age of international long distance phone calls and air mail, communication was not a constant. Now Tatiana and I keep in touch through Facebook and had a delightful visit on Video Messenger to catch up on life. As I attempted to decipher our relationship, she summed it up beautifully, “we are family!” We reminisced about our in-person visits and a highlight for me was learning to make the classic Spanish omelet from her mom who made enough of the famed tapas dish to serve at my mom’s birthday when they were in town for the festivities. Tatiana said one of her favorite memories was my mom’s angel food cake and said, “I have a lot of memories from the first time we met.”

We aren’t quite sisters or cousins. I cherish our special family friendship and I am grateful technology can keep us connected.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? Something very quick we do here is the Spanish omelet, potatoes and onions softened in olive oil and cooked with beaten eggs. It makes a traditional Spanish tortilla. You can chop the potatoes into small squares or slice them, depending on what you prefer. If I’m in a hurry, I slice them.

What’s your favorite city? Prague. We went last summer. It’s a beautiful beautiful city, just wonderful!

What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? La Taverna Alabardero. They have very nice cuisine, modern Spanish cuisine also inspired by French cuisine.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? Pasta de pimiento Choricero, a traditional pepper paste from northern Spain made with Choricero peppers.

Who taught you to cook? My mom mostly, and my grandmom. Also a lot of books!

What’s your go-to dish for company? In summer, we do barbecues. I also like to make quiches depending on the ingredients I have. A favorite is Quiche Lorraine.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee mostly, cafe con leche.

Most stained cookbook? El Menu de Cada Dia by Karlos Arguinano.

Surf? or Turf? Surf definitely.

What’s your go-to olive oil? A virgin olive oil, has to be from Spain! 99% of the olive oil in the supermarkets here are from Spain.

Indispensable kitchen tool? The spatula for cakes, wooden spoon for regular cooking, oh and a good knife.

Staple childhood comfort food? It’s not very common for kids, but I love white rice made with black sauce from squid.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? My dad. We would go out rather than cook at home so we would have more time to focus and talk.

How do you like your toast? Lightly toasted with tomato and olive oil, pan con tomate.

Ideal grilled cheese? Once in England I had a toast spread with lemon curd and a little Emmenthal melted on top. It must have a lot of calories but it was delicious!

Favorite pizza topping? Cherry tomatoes with goat cheese and basil. It’s very nice.

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I would like to go in Provence in France or Tuscany. One of these would be fun!

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? Always get a good base for any dish. Our traditional base for many dishes is sofrito, made with sauteed tomatoes, onions, garlic and peppers in olive oil. It’s the base for a lot of seafood and meat dishes.

Favorite Chef? Angel Leon, a chef from Cadiz. His restaurant is Aponiente “cuisine of the unknown seas.” He uses a lot of sea plants and experiments a lot.

Master a traditional Spanish tortilla by starting small. Here I used 1 small potato and 2 eggs in my 5-inch seasoned cast iron skillet. Happy Cooking indeed!

Spanish Potato Omelet (Tortilla)

When you combine potatoes, olive oil and eggs (plus onion if you like, and a bit of salt), you get sunshine in a skillet! Spanish Tortilla = Little Cake and it is love at first bite, virtually transporting you to Spain where the dish is served as an appetizer or main dish almost everywhere you go. Exactly 21 years ago, I had a front row seat to an unforgettable Spanish cooking class when Tatiana’s mom Mireya was preparing skillets full of potato omelet for my mom’s 70th birthday. (Mom turns 91 tomorrow!) 

A few tips: 

• keep your heat low enough that your potatoes get tender without browning.

• start with a small skillet which is much easier to flip and cooks more quickly

• use good olive oil and farm fresh eggs if available 

• slice the potatoes for quicker cooking. A mandoline or similar slicing device helps with speed and uniformity 

• Practice makes perfect, the more you make the quicker you’ll master this classic!

• Approximate ratios: 6-inch skillet- 2 small potatoes, 4 eggs. 8-inch skillet-2 medium potatoes, 6 eggs

• ¼ cup olive oil 

• 2 small potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

• ¼ cup chopped onion

• 4 eggs

• Salt

HEAT the olive oil in a 6-inch skillet, preferably well-seasoned carbon steel or cast iron or nonstick over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and season with about ¼ teaspoon salt. Keep an eye on potatoes, stirring to keep from browning. Lower the heat if necessary. 

ADD the onion after the potatoes have been cooking for 5 minutes and continue to stir occasionally until potatoes are tender. 

WHISK the eggs in a medium bowl while you wait.

REMOVE the potatoes and onion to a shallow bowl from the skillet using a slotted spoon, keeping the excess oil in the skillet. Let the potatoes cool a minute or two in the shallow bowl, then stir them into the whisked eggs along with another ¼ teaspoon salt.

POUR the mixture back into the skillet and increase the heat to medium.

COOK, undisturbed, until the sides and bottom are set and the top is losing its gloss. Using a spatula, lift/slide the tortilla onto a plate just slightly larger than the skillet. 

PLACE the skillet over the top of the uncooked tortilla and using cooking mitts, FLIP the whole thing over back into the skillet. SMILE!

CONTINUE cooking a few minutes until the center is just cooked through. 

SLIDE the tortilla onto a large plate or cutting board and let cool before cutting into triangles or small squares for tapas.

20 Questions with Ted

Counter Intelligence is the column I founded and wrote for the Charleston Gazette-Mail for three years before I moved to Louisiana. I also wrote a cookbook of the same name and in this 20 Questions blog series, I have loved reconnecting with friends from everywhere and learning their counter intelligence kitchen tips. Ted Boettner probably reads everything within reach, he made it all the way to the back page of the Gazette’s Life&Style section. He emailed me on occasion about something in my column which led to lively debates about butter, sugar and all things kitchen. It was great to engage on cooking topics with a widely published think tank guy! We made a salad during the legislative session in West Virginia and I shared the recipe in my Counter Intelligence column (linked below with Ted’s recipe question). 

I caught up with Ted when I visited Charleston a few years back to visit friends and unveil the Charlie Cart teaching kitchen at the YMCA. He brought his young daughter to the interactive cooking demo and when they made the featured ‘Three Sisters Saute’ last week in their home kitchen, he sent a pic of his now eight-year old daughter chopping zucchini for the dish. He must have read my mind! He was in my cue for 20 Questions. He just switched to a new think tank and now works as a senior researcher with Ohio River Valley Research Institute, focusing in part on sustainable economic development. 

When he’s not being a policy wonk, Ted enjoys a nice whitewater paddle in West Virginia, running marathons, hiking at Dolly Sods, some political theory, and cooking for friends.

What’s your 20 minute recipe? My go-to because of the kids and what they love is Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce with onion and butter. I serve it over whole wheat spaghetti. I swear it is so good and simple! With a good can of Italian tomatoes it’s 1-2-3 and done in 20 minutes. I like to make a nice salad to go with it.

What’s your favorite city? There are a couple of places I would move to: Missoula, Bozeman, or Helena, Montana. I went to Missoula a few years ago and after driving across the country, went to a paddle shop and the guy there made some calls and lined up a shuttle and everything for us. Big Sky has some of the best backpacking and not very many people. It’s a playground!

What’s your favorite restaurant in your current city? Cafe Cimino. It’s 50 miles away, kind of old fashioned. The chef comes out and they keep bringing you stuff. It’s all really damn good! It’s the kind of place you order coffee after dinner.

Treasured find in the back of your fridge? I have some ramp butter. Also there are some things in life you have to have. I always keep feta in my fridge. It makes everything better

Who taught you to cook? My mom definitely. We had meals at the table at least 5-6 days a week, very ritualistic. We had church at the table, preparing good food and taking time to enjoy it. She taught me to be a good analyst of recipes, reading them from the bottom up. It reminds me of a James Baldwin quote: “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”

What’s your go-to dish for company? That’s a good question. I do the opposite of what you’re supposed to do. I experiment on company. When it works out, it’s a lot of fun. I always make a grain salad in case it doesn’t work out. I got a really nice piece of flank steak from Dickinson Gould the other day and served it to company. It was like, “chimichurri, come to me!” I like to do a large side of salmon and cook it, it’s easy but the people are like ‘how did you do that?!’

What’s on your cooking playlist? I do a very eclectic mix. I’ve been listening to Florence and the Machine. Sturgill Simpson, I really like him a lot. John Prine, too.

Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? Coffee no doubt. I look forward to my morning coffee when I go to bed at night. I do like kombucha! It helps if I’ve had too much to drink the night before.

Date night--at home? or out? Usually out. We love Secret Sandwich Society in Fayetteville! It’s worth the drive.

Most stained cookbook? Yours, of course! What I end up doing is watching shows and then I google how to make some of the dishes. I got really into this show about Argentinian street food, hence the chimichurri. 

Surf? or Turf? Surf. Fresh caught grouper is really amazing. I’ve had salmon that I caught in Alaska and it was good, but the grouper I caught off the coast of North Carolina was better.

Indispensable kitchen tool? Right now I’d say it’s my new carbon steel pan. There’s nothing that thing won’t do! I keep it out on my stove.

Staple childhood comfort food? Sloppy Joes. My mom used to whip those up all the time. I still make them. I make a really bourgeois version with pickled red onion and a good bun. They make me feel really comfortable.

Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? My reflexive answer is Christopher Hitchens. He was witty and smart and loved indulgence.

Ideal grilled cheese? Hearty wheat or sourdough with a combo of cheeses. I like something sharp with muenster, I like the way it melts. I’ll add thinly sliced apples and onions.

Favorite pizza topping? My uncle makes this wonderful pizza with pepperoni and blueberries. It’s fabulous!

Where would you want to take a cooking class? I’ve always wanted to go the the King Arthur baking school in Vermont for a weeklong immersion bread course. I would love to do that.

What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? I’m going back to the feta from before. Also when I’m cooking meats, I use a really good quality garlic powder instead of fresh garlic which tends to burn. I’ll make a rub with garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Three things next to your stove? Tongs, kosher salt in a barn, olive oil.

Favorite Sports Team? New York Mets. The first time I went to New York City my dad took us to a Mets game. I took my daughter to Pittsburgh for three games when the Mets were in playing the Pirates. Also I love watching 30 for 30.

Deliciously simple tomato sauce tossed with whole wheat spaghetti, ready to embellish (or not) and serve .

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Marcella Hazan, the famed Italian cooking teacher and writer has many styles of tomato sauce to her credit. A super simple version with canned Italian tomatoes, a halved whole onion and a varying number of tablespoons of butter is arguably one of the most popular. For good reason! It is delicious and the marriage of bright tomato and creamy butter with a backstory of onion is hard to beat, especially since you can cheat the suggested 45 minute simmer time and get ‘er done in 20 flat. Ted likes to serve with whole wheat spaghetti and a meatball or two. He also uses the sauce for lasagne. 

• 1 (28 ounce) can good Italian whole tomatoes

• 1 medium onion (about an 8 ouncer) peeled and halved through the shoot and root

• 5 tablespoons good butter, cut into 5 pieces for quick melting

• Salt
  

POUR the tomatoes and their juices into a large deep pot (I used an enameled Dutch oven. The depth keeps the vigorously simmering sauce from spattering everywhere). Crush them with your clean hands (a great job for the kids!) into smallish pieces, or mash them with a wooden spoon once you get the heat going.

ADD the onion halves, the butter and about a teaspoon of salt.

HEAT the sauce over medium high until it boils, stirring occasionally. 

REDUCE the heat to medium or the level of heat that makes you feel like your sauce is conversing with you while you go about cooking your pasta and making your salad.

STIR the sauce from time to time, cooking until the tomato juices have reduced a bit and the butter melted into a glossy perfection. With a lively-simmer/boil, I coaxed mine into done at 20 minutes.

REMOVE the onion from the pot (it’s a great cook’s treat or fun to add to your next morning’s egg scramble), add salt as needed, and serve with your favorite pasta.

This batch generously coats a pound of spaghetti. It also invites embellishment: fresh basil, red pepper flakes, maybe some Parmesan.