March 30 – April 5, 2026

Tuesday:                Mushroom Soup

Wednesday:           Chicken Meatballs with Red Sauce and Spinach

Thursday:              Crispy Cheese and Chicken Tacos

Friday:                   Blue Crab and Corn Chowder with Parmesan Crostini (Above is Fringed Tulip, gift from Hilda)

Saturday:               Chicago Tavern-Style Pizza

Sunday:                 Chicken Chemuin with Parsley Sauce, Roasted Potatoes, Grilled Zucchini with Feta, Lemon and Basil

                             Grilled Pineapple with Ice Cream and Rum Sauce

Personal note: I had never had pneumonia until two weeks ago when I experienced the most bone-shaking illness of my adult life.  The chills and shivering associated with pneumonia are the sort of things that leave you feeling completely alone, your whole body aching and unable to get warm and not sure how you’re going to make it through.  You are, literally, hanging on for dear life.  To make a long story short – two days later I was in the hospital for a four day stay, intravenous anti-biotics, Tylenol and the binging, buzzing, and beeping experience that anyone who has ever had the misfortune to stay in a hospital would recognize. 

I cannot thank those who called or sent notes enough.  You reminded me that there is a world outside the hospital where poking people with needles is considered impolite and feeding them with food which would not have passed muster in a Soviet prison camp is cause for a Congressional inquiry.  I am now on the mend, can walk up a flight of stairs without having to pause and am back on my feet.   So, save your prayers for someone else now.

And now, to last week’s food:

Home Grown Chef

Lidey Heuck is a national treasure, but she is also a local, Pittsburgh gal, just like my Beez.  Now, I’m a little trepidatious, referring to SWMBO as a ‘gal,’ not because she isn’t one, indeed more gal than I can handle, but because she has some rather stiff ideas about how she should be characterized or addressed.  She’s not exactly Betty Friedan, but she’s also not Betty Boop.

But wait, where was I – oh yes, Lidey Heuck.  So, this preppy, but not snobby, young college graduate, child of two Pittsburgh journalists, decides to apply for the job of Ina Garten’s social media assistant, although she has no knowledge of cooking.*  She assumes the job will be administrative, involve some writing and scheduling, but no actual cooking.

*But she does have knowledge of great food – her uncles, the Uricchio’s owned Lafôret and other Pittsburgh restaurants, and grandmothers on both sides of the family could cook.  But Lidey was on a different path, or so she thought – think prep school, Ivy League, well, Bowdoin, and the pseudo-intellectual fringe known as communications and public relations.

She got the job and was immediately involved in the whirl of Ina Garten’s life – shopping for food, prepping, cooking and even, from time to time, doing the job she was hired for.  Meanwhile, she was sponging up knowledge and technique while hanging out with the demanding, but pleasant Ina Garten for 6 years.  And a chef was born.

Since I am not, though I could have been, friends with Ina (Andrew and Beez put a clamp on each arm when Ina and party walked into Blue Hill at Stone Barns where we were dining), how did I run across Lidey?  You may recall that three weeks ago we took refuge at M and H’s wonderful home after a storm that knocked out our power.  M has a great collection of cookbooks and Lidey’s first, quite handsome, cookbook, Cooking in Real Life was staring at me from across the kitchen island.  I had leafed through a few other of M’s cookbooks, but this one stopped me in my tracks.  First of all, the photography is spectacular, secondly, the recipes are normal – we’re not talking about thousands of ingredients, the need for a chinois or sous-vide cooking, or days ahead prep or marination or 12 hour smoking before actually getting to the recipe.

But then I was in the hospital and, a week later, back home, depleted by pneumonia and lying in bed for days on end and not sure if I could lift a cast-iron skillet, but ravenous after the hospital chow that I had not really been able to eat.  I had a photograph in my phone of one of Lidey’s recipes – Chicken Meatballs in Red Sauce with Spinach.  I decided to give it a try, made the meatballs, took a nap after that Herculean task and came back from my bedroom groggy, but hungry, and cooked those meatballs, finished them in LaFamiglia’s bottled marinara and wilted a handful of spinach in the sauce while cooking some rigatoni as a base for the meal.  And . . . Billy, Beez and I finished off about ¾ of a recipe meant for 4 – Lidey doesn’t skimp on quantity – and I went to bed early and very happy, having ordered Lidey’s cookbook online.

That meatball recipe is just below this post – sorry for rambling but, hey, I’m still a little wobbly from the hospital and talking to you all is helping to orient me back in real life, where I can cook more of Lidey’s recipes.  (I know – I’m writing not talking, but I’m doing it in my off-hand, often flippant speaking voice, in case you hadn’t noticed).

P. S. While Lidey’s parents were too busy to focus on cooking, she notes that “Sunday dinners at my grandparents’ house were another story.  The whole extended family would gather for drinks and an elaborate spread of cheese, cured meats, and dips in the living room, while my grandfather put the finishing touches on dinner. . . “ So, she had a background that Ina Garten and her own hard work brought out and, thankfully, instead of going full gourmet, she creates simple but elegant food that anyone can cook. 

One-Pan Chicken Meatballs with Red Sauce & Spinach

(adapted from Lidey Heuck, Cooking in Real Life)

Timing:                                                  45 minutes – 1 hour

Ingredients:                                                   Serves 4

1 lb. dark meat chicken (we used white meat – all I could find)

½  cup panko bread crumbs, 1/3 cup whole milk

2 garlic cloves grated on a microplane – we used maybe 1/2 clove

1 large egg lightly beaten, 2/3 cup grated parmesan, divided

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, ½ teaspoon dried oregano

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, Extra-virgin olive oil

1 24 oz. jar good-quality marinara or arrabiata sauce

1 5 oz. container, baby spinach

Handful of basil leaves, torn

Cooked pasta, crusty bread or creamy polenta for serving

Make the Meatballs:

Combine panko, milk and garlic in a bowl and toss with a fork, set aside.  Note:  If you get tied up and let this sit for too long, it will thicken into a paste that will be difficult to mix with the other ingredients – add some milk to loosen it up if necessary.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, egg, 1/3 cup of the parmesan, the parsley, oregano, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper.  Mix gently, but thoroughly with clean hands.

Now add the panko mixture and mix gently until just combined.

Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl and coat your hands with it, then form meatballs about 1 ¾ inches in diameter – dipping into the olive oil as necessary to prevent sticking.  You’ll have 15 or 16 meatballs – don’t worry if you have 14.

You can make the meatballs ahead and refrigerate – it will actually help them to come together – but you need not to.

Cook the meatballs:

Note: Bring water to a boil, if you’re going to serve with pasta (we used rigatoni).

Line a plate with paper towels and, in a 10-inch Dutch oven, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium.  When shimmering, add 1/3 of the meatballs – you want space between them – and cook until browned on at least two sides.  You’ll want to take 4 to 6 minutes with each batch of meatballs.  Note:  don’t try to turn the meatballs too soon or they will stick, when they release easily, they are ready to turn.  And, if they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat.

Remove the meatballs to the paper towels and cook the remaining two batches.

When all the meatballs are browned, return them to the pot and add the sauce and ¼ cup of water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, partially cover and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes – until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce slightly reduced.

Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilted.  Off the heat, stir in the remaining 1/3 cup of parmesan and the basil leaves.  (If you need to loosen the sauce, use a little of the hot pasta water.)

Serve over pasta or polenta or with crusty bread and a little more parmesan and basil.

Sunshine at Casa Stuarti from the mailbox