This is a classic Louisiana stew. Every good, Southern girl has her own recipe, and this is my take on it. I like to keep is classic by combing the “Holy Trinity” of green peppers, onions, & celery then sauté them along with okra and Andouille, a spicy Cajun sausage add some tomatoes and stock and pow you have gumbo! This flavor packed base of the stew can be made ahead, and even frozen! Right before serving you just add some beautiful Gulf Coast shrimp, and serve it over fluffy, white rice. Add a dash of hot sauce and a sprinkle of file and voile a gumbo that is sure to warm your stomach and your heart.

Nothing makes your house smell more fantastic than roasting a chicken. There is something so comfortable and cozy about coming home and smelling that aroma coming from the kitchen. As the weather starts to cool down a bit, I can turn on the oven again without fear of heating up the whole house, and this dish is a perfect way to end summer and can easily be made into the fall months ahead. The chicken is seasoned with fennel seed, which adds a savory subtle anise flavor. The addition of the onions, olives, and wine lends a slight salty sweet pan sauce, making this one of the most flavorful roasted chicken dishes I have prepared. I know you will love it.

This pasta is a simple recipe, with just a few ingredients, but overflows with flavor. Grape or cherry tomatoes are roasted in the oven until their tomato flavor is intensified into sweet caramelized little jewels. When you bite into them, they just explode with flavor. It takes a little bit of cooking time to achieve this, but it’s so worth it. They can be cooked in advance, and then added to the sauce at serving time. In the summer time, I roast them often and keep them on hand to sprinkle in other dishes to give them a pop of that tangy, intensely sweet tomato goodness! The sauce is so simple: the roasted tomatoes, onions, basil, my favorite cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a little of the pasta cooking water coat the pasta and turn it into a sublimely delicious dish that is light, but so packed with flavor.

For the main dish, imagine a perfectly baked white fish that is nestled into a rich tomato sauce flavored with herbs and black olives that is cooked until it is perfectly moist and juicy. A dish that is light in feel but heavy on flavor. Can you say “delicioso”?

Perfect Pizza | Part 1: Sauce
One of my greatest pleasures is strolling the cobblestone streets of Italian cities in the morning.  The sites of Old World neighborhoods coming to life as the open-air markets begin to bustle in the new day.  By lunchtime, the thoughts of a perfect thin crust pizza are inescapable. As I stroll past pizzerias, the aroma of freshly baked dough is too much to resist.  One must simply stop, sit, and enjoy Italy’s most famous exports – pizza and a glass of vino!