I turned on the news this morning and found out that Spring is about to officially begin! But rather than jump into the spring recipes, I’m going to help you savor these last couple days of winter by providing the the ultimate comforting soup recipe: a thick and hearty potato leek soup. Continue reading →

Although it started as an accident, this Chick Pea Soup with Ginger and Coriander has turned into a favorite in my kitchen. It’s simple, healthy and satisfying and can be on the table in about 10 minutes (ok, maybe 15). Continue reading →

A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal!

As I have already mentioned, today I share a birthday with my cousin Jason. A week ago he e-mailed me and requested that I create ‘The Ultimate Manwich’ for his birthday and post it on Pinch My Salt. No other instructions or descriptions were given. He just asked for The Ultimate Manwich. Continue reading →

The vegetarian three bean chili from the other night turned out really great! As I had mentioned, I decided to try topping the chili with cornbread batter and baking it. I’ve never done this before but several of you talked about it during our weekend cornbread discussion and it sounded like a pretty good idea to me! Continue reading →

This is still on the stove and I’m not quite through fiddling with the seasonings so I won’t give you the exact recipe just yet. But it’s a simple one that I just threw together so you really don’t need an exact recipe! Continue reading →

All the credit for these goes to my friend Ron. He’s famous throughout California’s central valley for his blue cheese burgers! I don’t have his recipe because even though I think I managed to pry it from him once, I never wrote it down. But I was craving a blue cheese burger today for lunch and since Ron and Ruby live in California and I’m still in Sicily, I had to come up with something myself! Continue reading →

Meatloaf Appreciation Day was on October 18th and I can’t believe I missed it! Actually, I can. I miss everything! But I did have every intention of participating in the meatloaf roundup hosted by Serious Eats. But even though I missed the deadline, I’m still going to share my Horseradish Meatloaf with you! Continue reading →

Remember Mark Bittman’s Paella with Tomatoes that caused me to drool all over my keyboard last week? Well, I finally made it. It was the simplicity of this dish that drew me but when I saw some Spanish chorizo at the store, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to complicate the dish just a bit.

Since I’m in Italy, arborio (of risotto fame) was my rice of choice and it turned out to be a good one. The grains were firm yet creamy, a texture I can’t get enough of. For the smoked paprika, I used a combination of hot and sweet, one teaspoon of each. This added just enough heat to make it interesting. Both types came from The Spice House and I was glad to have them both on hand!

I’ve never used Spanish chorizo (not be be confused with Mexican chorizo, which is completely different) and I thought this was the perfect dish to give it a try. The chorizo I picked up at the store was just the prepackaged Goya brand sausage. I’m sure there is better chorizo to be found but tasted good and it turned the dish into more of a main course. If you can’t find chorizo, I think any kind of precooked or cured smoked sausage would be good. Continue reading →