Exuberant fans + asphalt neighborhoods. The idea of celebrating outdoors in the brisk autumn air is a time-honored tradition harkening back to harvest festivals. College football parties most likely started on Ivy League campuses more than a century ago. Over time, ardent tailgating has become a mainstay activity at collegiate,… Read More

History repeating itself, one delicious meal at a time. Was there ever a time chicken pot pies didn’t exist? Food historians trace meat pies with poultry to the Roman era, and in America the dish appears in cookbooks in the early 1800s. Even Laura Ingalls Wilder mentions chicken pies in the… Read More

An Italian-American favorite, with emphasis on the hyphen, This story begins with eggplant. But before launching into the origins of one of the world’s most favorite chicken entrées, a word about this new series, Classics Redefined. Earlier, The Good Plate profiled chicken pot pies, a hearty… Read More

Going big – fun, friends and freezer-ready meals. What is it about winter weekends that make simmering a big pot of soup or stew such a great idea? Obviously, large batch cooking has merits in any season — armloads from the farmers market in spring, heavily laden grills in summer,… Read More

A fresh take for the great outdoors. Picnic season is here, and blankets and baskets are emerging from hibernation. The big question is, what’s going in those baskets this summer? Chicken salad is a time-honored favorite, but if the usual path approach to making it is starting to feel more… Read More

Drifting soon through an open window near you. You can see it. Smell it. Taste it. Yet it’s not always easy to put a finger on what makes one of humankind’s oldest cooking techniques so appealing. Different people have different reasons for loving smoked foods. For some, it’s tradition. For… Read More

Hot enough for you? Dial it in. Hot chicken has seared its way into national culinary consciousness in a big way. With a legendary heritage in Nashville, this firebrand of the fried chicken world blazes a new trail for creativity in the kitchen. Can the innovation continue? You bet your… Read More

Simple processes, complex flavors. Everyone’s first encounter with “caramel” was probably an ooey-gooey candy, perhaps a bite sized treat on Halloween or straight from the bag during a cookie making marathon. Later, you might have oohed and aahed over a perfectly caramelized crème brûlée. It’s the color brown that’s the… Read More

What’s #1 at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? State dinners. Celebratory banquets. Working lunches. Private family meals. What the presidents, their families and staff have eaten at the White House for the more than 200 years it’s existed reveals a lot about American food culture and trends. From elegant to commonplace, meals… Read More

The creativity continues. East coast. West coast. Or is it the south? The origin story of chicken and waffles is long and winding with as many crossroads as the surface of a waffle itself. But here’s what everyone who’s ever tried chicken and waffles knows. First, the combination is delicious. Read More

Hi guys! Monique here, founder of the food and wellness blog, Ambitious Kitchen. As a full-time food blogger I find that being busy is a blessing. Whenever I’m the busiest I know I’m doing a mix of all of the things I love — developing delicious… Read More

Take it outside. Few foods have the universal appeal of pizza. The variations and combinations are endless, and the creative possibilities extend to cooking techniques as well. Who wants to heat up the kitchen on a beautiful summer afternoon or evening? That’s when you want to be outside, grilling with… Read More

Is there anything this sandwich can’t do? Grilled cheese is a charmer. It wins friends pretty much at hello, and for many people the introduction starts early. Often, the relationship goes so far back to childhood that it’s nearly impossible to say when you first took a bite of a… Read More

Beautiful outside and in. First things first. Yes, squash is actually classified as a fruit since it has seeds inside. But of course, everyone thinks of it as a vegetable, and that’s fine since, like all vegetables, squash is an excellent addition to everyday meals for its health and nutritional… Read More

What’s in a name? Macaroni and cheese seems entirely self-evident. There’s macaroni. And there’s cheese. Yes, there are more than 600 kinds of pasta, so there are plenty of options on that side of the equation. And of course, there’s always another kind of cheese to try. But what if… Read More

Making your own fresh chicken broth is just as easy as popping a pot roast in the oven on a Sunday afternoon—just figure you can go organize your pantry or read a book while it’s simmering away on the stove!… Read More

Encourage your family to give suspect root vegetables a test drive, under the guise of a comforting plate filled with golden chicken, mashed “potatoes”, and a buttery pan sauce. Read More

Tawny ports are wines made from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels. The exposure to wood imparts “nutty” flavors to the wine, which can be sweet or medium dry. Port is typically served at the end of a meal, but in this simple recipe it creates a luscious… Read More

This version of stroganoff—which most often is made with beef and takes much longer to cook—is elegant enough for a New Year’s celebration but won’t take you away from the party. Using a nice pour of champagne, which is similar to cooking with a slightly sweet white wine, adds a… Read More

The footprint for this recipe is super flexible—basically it’s grilled chicken with your favorite garden fresh veggies. Browse farmers markets for spring ramps (wild leeks), heirloom tomatoes, or other kinds of local cheeses to inspire this celebration of foods grown or produced close to home. Boneless chicken breasts are featured… Read More

As more summer produce appears in the market or your garden, you can make this main dish salad with just about anything. Roast or grill quartered beets, halved Roma tomatoes, sliced eggplant, sweet bell peppers or long slices of zucchini. Read More