Recipes from A Chef's Life

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  Dessert

  Pawpaw Pudding with Vanilla Wafer and Sesame Crumble

  Pawpaws are a little-known fruit with the redundant name. For the most part, they grow wild from Maryland to Missouri and Indiana to…
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  Side Dish

  Ms. Lillie’s Fried Cornbread

  From "Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South," by Vivian Howard (Little Brown, 2016). This recipe is featured in…
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  Entree

  Fried Chicken Livers with Balsamic ­Marinated Figs

  To make someone a liver lover, you should be careful to cook the livers until crispy but not overcooked, and paired them with an acidic…
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  Entree

  Whole Trout with Apple Mustard and Charred Cabbage Apple Slaw

  Let this be the dish that converts you to cooking whole fish, which may require a trip to the fishmonger’s or seafood market. From "Deep…
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  Side Dish

  Charred Cabbage Apple Slaw

  This slaw pairs with Vivian Howard's Whole Trout with Apple Mustard recipe. The dish is featured in Chasing Trout in Season 5 of A Chef's…
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  Dessert

  Bill Smith’s Persimmon Pudding

  Chapel Hill chef Bill Smith is a regular on a A Chef’s Life and this time he shares a recipe for persimmons. Smith recommends an…
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  Beverage

  Peanut, Pepsi and Bourbon Float

  Vivian declares that this foaming spectacle of sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy, and boozy is the gold standard of ice cream floats. Now you…
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  Side Dish

  The Picnic Cafe’s Broccoli Salad

  Kathy Bonnet, owner of The Picnic Cafe in Nashville, Tenn., shared the recipe for her classic broccoli salad and the secret to her…
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  Side Dish

  Kieffer Pear Preserves

  As Vivian wrote on her blog: "Kieffer preserves are so special in fact, I wouldn't dream of simply typecasting them as condiments for toast…
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  Appetizer

  Grandmother Shirley Webb’s Stuffed Banana Peppers

  This recipe appears in A Chef's Life Season 5, Episode 3 called "Profilic Peppers".
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  Salad

  Summer Salad with Green Beans, Peaches and Bacon

  The almond pesto is also great with apples, arugula and/or chicken. Pesto recipe comes from "Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My…
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  Entree

  Ms. Lillie's "Kill Hungry" Macaroni

  This is the original "Hamburger Helper" and as Ms. Lillie and Mrs. Mary say, "It kills hungry." Use home canned tomatoes if you are lucky…
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  Entree

  Sausage Stewed Cabbage

  We don’t just stew collards in the South. Cabbage, or "cabbages" as we say here, slow cooked with seasoning meat, is just as likely to…
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  Soup and Stew

  Country Ribollita

  Ribollita is a classic Tuscan soup based on vegetables, beans, and stale bread. I’ve got all that going on here, but with field peas,…
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  Entree

  Country-Style Pork Ribs in Red Curry-Braised Watermelon

  I don’t normally recommend cooking watermelon, but this is special. Serve it over something like rice to soak up all the intoxicating…
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  Entree

  Spring Onion Gratin

  Onions baked in cream and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs is a classic, luxurious side. My version bathes tender scallions in aromatics…