Hushpuppies

Serves 6; makes about 3 dozen hushpuppies

Long ago, on the Southern plantations, while the cooks were busy cooking meals for the workers and the plantation owners, the hounds outside the door, smelling all the good things cooking in the kitchen, would whine and bark because they were so hungry. The cooks, in an attempt to calm them, would fry cornmeal balls and throw them to the hounds yelling, "hush puppies!"

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 cup cream-style corn

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (optional)

1 whole jalapeno chile pepper (optional), finely chopped

vegetable oil for deep-frying

Preheat oil for deep-frying to 375° F. You can use a wok, deep saucepan, or an electric deep-fryer. In a bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar, stirring well. Add egg, onion, corn, buttermilk, red bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper, stirring to combine. Coat your hands with flour, and using your hands, form batter into 1-inch balls. Using a metal slotted spoon, carefully lower hushpuppies into hot oil and deep-fry for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Instead of shaping into balls, you can spoon tablespoon-size portions of batter into the hot oil. This method works just fine, and you end up with interesting shapes. Makes about 3 dozen 1-inch hushpuppies. Serve with a prepared tomato-horseradish cocktail sauce or any favorite condiment.

(Air Date: March 1, 2003)

Basic Fresh Pasta

Place flour in a large bowl; make a well in the center. Add eggs and water to the well. Beat eggs lightly in the well, slowly incorporating all the flour. Knead dough in the bowl or on a lightly floured counter until it is smooth, about 5 to 6 minutes. Place the dough in the bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rest 15 minutes.

IF ROLLING DOUGH BY HAND: The dough should be flexible, not too firm. To get it this way, start with 2 1/2 cups flour and add remaining flour as needed (if dough is too sticky). After dough has rested, roll out dough with a rolling pin to 1/8-inch thickness. Roll up dough jellyroll-style, and cut noodles to desired width. Unroll noodles and cook until tender, yet firm to the bite (al dente), about 1 to 2 minutes.

IF USING HAND-CRANK PASTA MACHINE: On knob setting 1, flour and fold the dough with each passing (4 or 5 times on number 1). On knob settings 2 through 7, pass dough through just once each setting. Do not fold on these settings. You may wish to flour lightly if dough seems to be sticky. Flouring lightly before cutting noodles helps to keep them from sticking to one another. Cut pasta to desired width through the pasta machine attachment. Freeze the pasta or cook as directed above.

Serve hot fresh pasta with your favorite tomato or cream sauce (see Easy Chunky Tomato & Meat Sauce below).

Wrap fresh pasta in serving size portions (do not dry) in plastic bags and freeze for up to 1 month. To cook, simply put frozen pasta in boiling water and cook until al dente (tender, yet firm to the bite). [This will only take a matter of minutes---stay close and watch it.] Now that's what I call fast food!

Cook fresh pasta just prior to serving. Drain away boiling water, lightly toss pasta with a bit of olive oil or a bit of the sauce to keep it from sticking together, and serve it immediately. Cooked pasta waits for no one!

When making fresh pasta, a hand-crank pasta maker makes the job easy by kneading, rolling, and cutting the dough.

Easy Chunky Tomato & Meat Sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan on medium-high. Sauté Italian sausage until browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain drippings, reserve sausage, and wipe out saucepan. Heat saucepan on medium-low, add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and sauté onion and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and reserved sausage. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer sauce until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Toss with hot pasta and serve immediately.

Place corned beef brisket in a large, deep pot. Add coriander seeds, bay leaves, and water to cover brisket by 4 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 3 hours, or until meat is tender. Add cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnip, rutabaga, and kohlrabi, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. For sauce, combine mayonnaise, horseradish, and mustard in a small bowl, mixing well. Remove vegetables from pot with a slotted spoon and arrange on a large platter. Allow corned beef to cool for about 5 minutes, then slice across the grain. Arrange corned beef on platter with vegetables and serve sauce on the side.

This quick and easy main dish is full of flavor, and the simple braising technique keeps the pork chops moist---no more dried out pork chops!

Sprinkle savory over both sides of pork chops. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and cook pork chops for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until browned. Add chicken broth and balsamic vinegar to pan, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until pork chops are tender. Remove chops from pan and keep warm on a plate. Raise heat to high and reduce liquid to half, about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour sauce over chops and serve warm.