Author Archives: Phyllis Quinn

When it comes to cooking, my friends think I’m a trend spotter (and they may be right!). And I’ve noticed that salts of all kinds are definitely in the limelight these days. Because I love to cook and create new recipes, and with a plethora of new salts readily available, I want to introduce you […]

All my life, every Easter my family—guided by three generations of matriarchs—would make a traditional specialty called Easter Wheat Pie (pastiera di Grano). One of the main ingredients is grano, Italian for wheat berries. You might have seen wheat berries in the bulk section at the health food store, but unless you grind or mill […]

First, let’s shed a little light on goat milk and goat cheese. Growing in popularity almost every day, you may have noticed that goat cheese is all the rage. Are you confused about it and how to use it? Do you need suggestions for serving it?  Mastering a tried and true recipe is a great […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: The first vegetable my husband brings in from his spring garden is a bunch of radishes. We enjoy them for about two weeks. We often forget this from year to year, but after a little while no one wants to eat them. They are too strong or spicy, the leaves are too […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: I just discovered Indian cuisine, which I always thought was just curry. But recently I ate something called Peas with Paneer (Mattar Paneer) at my new and maybe soon-to-be favorite restaurant. It was very good. They told me it wasn’t made from soy (since I thought I was eating tofu), but it […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: Lent seems much longer than 40 days when I don’t have any ideas for new meatless meals. I get tired of mac and cheese and fried fishcakes or BLT’s without the bacon—and certainly wouldn’t serve these to guests. It wouldn’t be so dreary if we entertained more. I need tasty dinners; fish […]

Many years ago, this New York City girl got transplanted to the Adirondacks. As I look back, it was a good decision for my soon-to-begin-high-school teenagers. Now they thank me when they recall that in New York City they would have been little fish in a very big pond. Upstate, in Glens Falls, they were […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: Ever since I was a little girl, I remember having cherry macaroons for Valentine’s Day. I think my mother bought them in a candy store like Loft’s—not a bakery shop because they had chocolate drizzled on the top of them—but I can’t be sure. I would like to make them at home […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: It’s winter, and I need to learn to make a good soup. My husband is now on a restricted diet, with low or less salt required for health reasons. So I began reading the labels on processed foods at the supermarkets, mostly on sodium contents of canned soups, and I was amazed. […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: Many years ago, my mother and grandmother made what they called “Boston baked” beans that cooked in a large brown bean pot overnight in the oven. The beans didn’t have BBQ sauce or, for that matter, a red tomato sauce at all. I haven’t found a good recipe and would prefer to […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: I want to have a holiday tradition that will make memories like the one I remember most from my grandmother. We only had her German goodies like Lebkuchen and Pfeffernusse at Christmas time, which made them special. But the thing I remember most of all was her gingerbread…it was the best, more […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: The only time I think about or serve sweet potatoes is during the holidays. And I am tired of serving gooey, marshmallow–topped sweet potatoes to my guests for either Thanksgiving or Christmas because I find that most of them only take a taste to remember how sweet they really are. What do […]

Ask Chef Phyllis For years, our parents roasted a 25-plus pound turkey that my mom started to cook at 2 A.M. That very large bird was more often than not dry and tough. The side dishes saved the day. Momma made a delicious sausage and Italian chestnut dressing that was bread stuffing. Now with new […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: A few weeks back at a neighbor’s party, a friend who had been to Brazil mentioned that tapioca pudding was on almost every menu. I know I am dating myself, but the only time I ever ate and really enjoyed tapioca pudding was at the Automat in Philadelphia—and that was many years […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: My mother never told me of this season in a marriage—I call it “late-summer boring squash season.” My husband (my “can’t waste anything” backyard gardener) brings me ripe zucchinis, some plump as bowling pins and others as skinny as broomsticks, and stacks these and other late summer veggies such as small peppers, […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: What do I do with the four tablespoons of pureed pumpkin not needed in my recipe? I confess, I usually toss it in the trash after a week. When I make a recipe that leaves little bits of this and that, it makes me feel guilty about not putting leftover ingredients in […]

Ask Chef Phyllis: My dear mother was Portuguese, and my father was French. They worked in the textile mill town of Fall River. We were 5 children; I am the oldest and cooked for a family of 7 from about age 11. Time was always a factor in our lives, and my job was to […]