Hibachi My family eats at the neighborhood hibachi restaurant, often. Actually, what we Americans have come to know as “hibachi” is actually teppanyaki-style cooking. A hibachi is a small, portable grill like the ones I used on my apartment balcony during a very lengthy and tenuous college career.Teppanyaki-style cooking is done on a flattop griddle [...]

LAS VEGAS— What is a family man who doesn’t drink, doesn’t gamble, and has trouble staying up to watch David Letterman doing in Las Vegas with his wife and kids? Two words: The Beatles. I have pulled my second grader and sixth grader out of school to travel to Las Vegas to see Cirque du [...]

Working for the Mouse ORLANDO— I am in Walt Disney World as a visiting chef of the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival. Through the years I have been a frequent guest of The Mouse. I have enjoyed the parks with-and-without kids and had a great time doing the stuff one does down here since [...]

Catfish In Sunday’s New York Times Magazine there was an extensive article on catfish. In the article I learned that the Catfish Institute, located in Jackson, Miss., has chosen a new name for the catfish— Delecata. As new made-up names for fish go, I guess “Delacata” is as good as any, though I would like [...]

Doggie Bags After 28 years in the restaurant business, one of the most consistent customer behaviors I have observed is with doggie bags. A majority of restaurant patrons are embarrassed to ask their server for a doggie bag. I have never been able to figure out the tentativeness on the customer’s part, but it’s real. [...]

The Mac Attack The holy grail of kid cuisine is macaroni and cheese. When I wrote my second cookbook, Deep South Staples or How to Survive In A Southern Kitchen Without A Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup, I needed to include a macaroni and cheese recipe to complete the theme for updated home cooking. [...]

Stable Staples Every home has a stable staple. A stable staple is an item that is almost, if not always, in an individual’s home kitchen. It varies from home to home and is usually located in an heirloom cookie jar, or a favored Pyrex dish, tucked away on a special shelf in the pantry, or [...]

Tailgating During Fall in Mississippi It’s mid September in Mississippi. Is it fall yet? Yesterday I was watching the Weather Channel and the announcer talked about “fall” weather in the Northeast. Fall in September? You’ve got to be kidding. Not down here. We know the word “fall,” but we never experience the actual season until [...]

Tailgating During Fall in Mississippi It’s mid September in Mississippi. Is it fall yet? Yesterday I was watching the Weather Channel and the announcer talked about “fall” weather in the Northeast. Fall in September? You’ve got to be kidding. Not down here. We know the word “fall,” but we never experience the actual season until [...]

The Denomination of Punch I am a Methodist because my grandfather owned a pair of shoes. My great-grandmother was a Baptist. My great-grandfather was a Methodist. My grandfather was the oldest of seven boys. His family was poor and could only afford Sunday shoes for the two oldest boys. The five younger boys stayed barefoot [...]