Food & Drink

Korean short ribs and veggie skewers ready to grill. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ Some people are security seekers. I have friends who always drink the same brand of beer or wine and order the same familiar foods such as steak, fried chicken or cheeseburgers. Other people are thrill seekers. They are the ones who try […]

Asparagus “rafts” on the grill. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ During college, I spent my summers farming with my wife’s grandfather – her “Papa” – on his organic produce farm. Every evening, weary, sore, and satisfied from a true hard day’s work, we were rewarded with Nana’s sublime suppers. Nana was a farm cook. She did […]

When my mother started doing cooking classes in the early 2000s, we had no idea how it was going to turn out. I remember doing a trial run a week before the first class. A few close friends – some experienced cooks, some not – made lobster risotto and shrimp with lemon something. That first […]

Mark Hartstein, chef/owner of Watson’s Shack & Rail in Champaign. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ I’ve been a lover of Buffalo Hot Wings for decades: chicken wings fried or broiled, tossed in butter and hot sauce, dipped in blue cheese or ranch dressing. I was expecting something similar the first time I tasted Nashville Hot Chicken. […]

The Seder meal is a culinary retelling of the Israelites’ flight from slavery, and marks the beginning of the eight-day Passover holiday, which begins this year on April 22. Around this time every year, I contemplate what I will make for a weekend brunch as I flip through various culinary magazines. Along with the standard […]

Arancini di Riso. PHOTO BY GEORGE CHERNILEVSKY/WIKIMEDIA.ORG Risotto is a northern Italian rice dish that is cooked in broth until rich and velvety yet slightly firm and chewy. In Italy, risotto is most often served as a primo, or first course, or as an accompaniment to a meat course. Cooking risotto is like making love. […]

Kugelis PHOTO BY Eden, Janine and Jim VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG I don’t eat horseshoe sandwiches – or pony shoes, for that matter. My vote for the world’s best comfort food is kugelis, a Lithuanian grated potato casserole, copiously topped with a mélange of melted sour cream and sautéed onions, bacon and bacon drippings. Due to an […]

Maddie Meyer checking the depth for planting an apple tree. PHOTO COURTESY ASHLEY MEYER I have vivid memories of wandering through the thousands of tomato plants that were grown on my great-grandfather’s market farm. Lima beans were a delicacy in our family. When they were in season I played in the shade of the giant […]

Fried eggs, red pepper flakes and herbs pasta. PHOTO BY PETER GLATZ Four years ago I bought a school bus and named her Bertha. I removed all the seats and outfitted her with sleeping bunks, a restroom, a dining nook, and a small, but fully equipped kitchen. Bertha and I love hitting the open road […]

Cauliflower and potato mash with parmesan. PHOTO COURTESY ASHLEY MEYER   “Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flakeOf the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make? Yes […]

Ben, left, and Norah Perry with their mom, Chef Denise Perry. Her new cooking school features classes for children, as well as for adults. In the process of going through my mother’s things after her death a month ago, a thought kept popping into my head: “I am nowhere near as interesting as my parents […]