David Leite's Blog, page 8
December 4, 2018
Pimento Cheese
This pimento cheese is a Southern classic made from Cheddar cheese, pimentos, sweet onion, and mayonnaise.
There is nothing about me that is remotely Southern. I can’t name the capital of Virginia. I have no idea whether Lee or Grant led the Confederate troops into battle (although I do know who won the war). And for the life of me, I simply don’t get the concept of boiled peanuts. For years my only primer to Southern society...
November 30, 2018
Emotional Baggage About a Bag of Holiday Nuts
I don’t know about you, but I’m very careful with my nuts. I have to be. I’m not allergic or anything, but I hold dear a cabal of prejudices stemming from what amounts to early childhood traumas. And my particular brand of nut crazy kicks in big time at this time of year.
It started in November 1966, when we moved into our new home, which my dad built. My mother had a holiday tradition of setting out a bowl of Diamond...
October 13, 2018
Chicken Paprikash
Chicken paprikash is such an Old World staple and beloved American favorite from the 1960’s that we just had to bring it back. Chicken thighs are seared and then cooked in a tomato-onion sauce. Just before serving, sour cream is stirred in. Major comfort food. And keto, too!
One night recently when I was home alone in Connecticut, I watched When Harry Met Sally, one of my all-time favorite rom-coms, for the six billionth time. There...
August 14, 2018
Cherry Tomato Tart
This cherry tomato tart calls for a homemade herbed crust, heavy cream, goat cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and tons of tomatoes.
Originally published July 8, 2015
An odd and unusual thing happened to us this summer in our garden. Something almost out of science fiction. [Cue otherworldly music.]
Let me back up. Before this year, The One’s and my vegetable garden took up all of a 10-foot circle around an old tree stump. We would dutifully...
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July 19, 2018
Pistachio Gelato
Pistachio gelato, made properly, relies upon nothing but pistachios, milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, and salt for its flavor and color. That’s why true pistachio gelato isn’t Frankenstein green. Sppons at the ready!
I’m convinced that in a past life I was an Italian woman with strong arms and solid legs, my nylons rolled down around my swollen peasant ankles. Because like signoras of years gone by, when it comes to pistachios,...
July 8, 2018
In a ’64 T-Bird, Chasing a Date with a Clam
Recapturing a childhood memory is nearly impossible. Chasing after it in a black 1964 Thunderbird convertible with red interior certainly helps.
The memory: lightly fried clams with big, juicy bellies, like the kind I munched on nearly every summer weekend growing up in Swansea, Mass. The car, owned by my friend Bob Pidkameny: a nod to my godfather, a local celebrity and stock car driver, who would pile my two cousins and me into whatever...
July 2, 2018
What is Portuguese Chouriço Sausage?
My sausage is suffering from an identity crisis, and it irks me. Mention chorizo, and what springs to mind are pungent Mexican links filled with ground meat that’s redolent of garlic and chile powder. But mention chouriço (pronounced sho-ree-zoo), the musky smoked sausage of Portugal, and “Isn’t that just another kind of Spanish chorizo?” usually follows. Well, I’m tired of this culinary confusion, and...
May 16, 2018
Chipotle Maple Barbecue Sauce
This chipotle maple barbecue sauce is made by slowly simmering crushed tomatoes, maple syrup, brown sugar, chipotle peppers, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic cloves, and dry mustard. It’s perfect on ribs, chicken, and pork.
Every year I make Sara Foster’s Fall-Off-the-Bone Baby Back Ribs, and they’re always a hit. But the weird thing is I always opted for bottled barbecue sauce. With so many bbq sauces out...
May 12, 2018
If I Were a Mother
Originally published on May 1, 2011.
A little sage advice: Be careful what you say about yourself, because yesterday’s jest could be tomorrow’s character-defining statement.
Let me explain. Seventeen years ago, The One and I were invited for a wintry weekend in Washington, CT, long before we ever bought a home there. We were guests of our then brand-spanking-new friends, Matty and Janet R. Janet had worked with The One in...
May 7, 2018
Devil with a Red Apron on
In Devil with a Red Apron on, David Leite recounts the trouble, frustration, and exasperation of trying to learn his family’s favorite Portuguese recipes from his mother.
Enter my mother’s kitchen, a domain she’s ruled with benign autocracy for more than 45 years, and all physical laws and culinary edicts cease to exist there. It’s like finding yourself in the loony world of a Warner Bros. cartoon where pain is...
