Creamy Cheesy Yellow Grits with Roast Brussel Sprouts and Sausage

Creamy Cheesy Yellow Grits with Roast Brussel Sprouts and Sausage

Creamy Cheesy Yellow Grits with Roast Brussel Sprouts and Sausage

How do I delicately say this–without offending Dad? It’s quite awkward, because the guy is a great cook. However, everyone has an Achilles’ heel. Well… his grits might be one of the few dishes with few good memories. Who knows what went wrong. They weren’t creamy. The texture was mostly watery. I only liked them with tons of cheese to hide the taste.

Imagine my surprise, when grits became a trendy ingredient along with the raise of southern cuisine a few years ago. I initially avoided grits on menus, and wondered why any chef would serve them. Over time, I decided to give grits another try to discover a soft, creamy taste. Humbled and in love with my first true taste of properly cooked grits, I wanted to learn the proper technique to cooking them. Read more

Tomato Chili Sauce Pizza with Wheat Cornmeal Crust

Hodgson Mill’s Tomato-Chili Sauce Pizza with Wheat Cornmeal Crust

Tomato Chili Sauce Pizza with Wheat Cornmeal Crust

Hodgson Mill asked MyLifeRunsOnFood.com to compete in their Build a Better Pizza contest. My response was an happy ‘YES,’ because I love creating pizza with unusual flavors (see Yellow Beet and Parsnip Wheat Pizza, Sweet Potato, Caramelized Shallots, Smoked Mozzarella Pizza with Wilted Arugula, NY Autumn Apple Prosciutto Pizza and Zucchini Tomato Ricotta Pizza. Homemade pizza is more fun and healthier than having a greasy pie delivered to my front door. The only difficulty was the requirement for making a crust with 50% whole-wheat flour. In my experience, that’s a very dense slice of pizza. Read more

Plum Cardamon Chicken Wings

Plum Cardamon Chicken Wings

Plum Cardamon Chicken Wings

What to do with plums left over from those last days of summer? I wouldn’t recommend serving them fresh, because they’re not quite their best anymore. However, here’s a sauce making best use of those late season, mealy plums for chicken wings or using as a dip for French fries. Where to serve them? It’s the start of another football season, and sports parties always have chicken wings. Meanwhile, my excitement for fall is because of the new television shows. This season, I’m watching Scandal and Boardwalk Empire. Read more