Butter a metal loaf pan. Mix 1 1/3 cups of coarse yellow cornmeal, 1 cup of flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, 9 tablespoons melted butter, and one beaten extra-large egg. Add this to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake about 40 minutes. Let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes then remove from the pan and let it cool on a rack.

Tags: recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
No Comments »

The first time I made donuts from scratch they were horrible. But that only encouraged me to keep trying. Many batches later, I came up with these almost fool-proof jelly donuts…light, airy, and kind of amazing when eaten warm. I encourage you to try them, and if the first batch is horrible, don’t give up!

[Read more →]

Tags: recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
No Comments »

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you lovebirds out there, Cupid’s arrow has hit me in the rear again. Last week, I fell in love with a new establishment in my town that serves a very tasty buffalo wing. And yes, while I am still on my diet, once a month I will need to allow myself to gorge on wings. A man can only eat so many twigs, nuts, and berries before he loses his mind! Plus, I am a card carrying member of a Wing Club. (Well, we don’t have cards….yet)   [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, recipes & food by Marty O'Connor
No Comments »

Say you’ve just gotten your tickets at the TKTS booth in midtown and you have a couple of hours before curtain.  Your first impulse might be to go to a deli, but delis in midtown have absurdly large portions and prices to match.  I say go west towards Hell’s Kitchen. A nice street is 46^th where you’ll pass Restaurant Row, a stimulating stretch that is a little like the back end of a carnival midway. Pretty hostesses and handsome hosts are on the curb to entice you into their establishments with pre-theater specials. This is prime tourist country, however, and while you can get a good meal there (and sing show tunes at “Don’t Tell Mama” when your show is over) the prices go down as soon as you turn the corner onto Ninth Avenue. So that’s what I do.

[Read more →]

Tags: Broadway Fred, recipes & food by Fred Siegel
1 Comment »

I made the tragic error yesterday that I have made many times before this — I foolishly tried to go to Chick-fil-A on a Sunday. As you may or may not know (and if you don’t know, please remove yourself from under that rock and brush the dirt and ignorance off), Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, recipes & food by Marty O'Connor
8 Comments »

Ladies and gentlemen, as we dig into a new Marty Digs posting, I am asking you to excuse me.  My son Jack and I had the weekend together as mommy away doing another running race.  Jack decided he didn’t want to sleep much this weekend, which culminated in coming home from the Eagles game last night at 1am and finding him wide awake at home.  If there was a way to slur speech via typing, I am probably going to do it today. [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, recipes & food by Marty O'Connor
No Comments »

10. You’re mistaken for a runaway Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon

9. You had to let out your shower curtain

8. At the beach, compassionate surfers keep trying to push you back in the ocean

7. This morning, the display on your bathroom scale read “Holy crap!”

6. You’re constantly asked what circus you work for

5. Your bellybutton suddenly popped out like one of those turkey thermometers

4. You’re sweating yams

3. NASA is planning to launch a rocket in the hopes of photographing the other side of you

2. So far, twelve people have referred to you as “Mr. Limbaugh”

1. Whenever anyone says, “Please pass the Butterball,” somebody grabs you
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, health & medical, recipes & food by Bob Sullivan
1 Comment »

 As terms like grass-fed, organic, locally grown, and sustainable become household words, eco-conscious cooks and manufacturers focus on the next frontier. After you get your pasture-raised chicken home, what are you cooking it in? After dinner, how are you packaging your leftovers?

Nonstick cookware, long considered one of the great culinary advancements of the 20^th century, has some major drawbacks. Last month, a study was published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine linking chemicals in nonstick pans to high cholesterol in children. This is in addition to multiple studies which have shown that at high temperatures, Teflon, the chemical used in the original nonstick pans, can be lethal to animals and cause flu-like symptoms in humans. How hot the pan needs to be to cause illness is still up for debate.

Aluminum pots and pans have been all but phased out of most home kitchens, since studies show they may be linked with Alzheimer’s disease. Yet every single chef and restaurant owner I spoke to in researching this article still used them in their restaurant.

[Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
No Comments »

It was exactly 1:24 AM on October 19th when I took my first bite of a McRib since who-knows-when.

I missed my old friend, the glorious boneless pork product with one of the most loyal, determined fan bases in the fast food world.  Some stories of McRib sightings had gotten back to me in the past, and while I never went to great lengths, I did do a little exploring. Twitter colleague @Legendary23 told me he’d seen lines for a McRib spilling out of a McDonald’s about 30 miles away, so when I had a jones for a late night snack, I hit up a closer location to see if I could score the elusive sandwich.

Jackpot.

Every bite was like a trip down memory lane. The sub roll, the sauce, the light pickles and onions… terrific. A Dr. Pepper went with it perfectly. If you haven’t been able to get in on the craze yet, you should on November 2nd when the McRib officially returns nationwide, albeit temporarily.

Now if only they could bring back the Arch Deluxe and the Coke float…

Tags: recipes & food by Glenn Giangrande
1 Comment »

A big satisfying sandwich can make a great weeknight dinner. For this Curry Chicken Sandwich recipe, the chicken can be prepared the night before and dinner can be on the table in 10 minutes. I usually serve this with some homemade potato chips, or a green salad with sliced apples.

[Read more →]

Tags: easy weeknight dinners, recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
No Comments »