Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross have been writing together as a team for more than a dozen years. Their Desperation Dinners column is nationally syndicated by United Media. Beverly lives with her husband and two children in Miami, and Alicia lives with her husband and two children in Raleigh, N.C. They have three cookbooks, Desperation Dinners!, Desperation Entertaining! and Cheap. Fast. Good!, all published by Workman.
Contact them through their website, kitchenscoop.com.
It's hard to believe it has taken so long for this Cajun classic to arrive in the Desperation Dinners test kitchen because one of our favorite challenges is to take traditional recipes and ''desperize'' them for busy cooks. But since this savory vegetable stew, called maque choux, stretches five minutes longer than our usual 20-minute limit, we kept putting it off.
Infused vinegars are a new favorite ''secret ingredient'' of ours for quickly elevating an ordinary dinner to extraordinary status. Whether flavored with figs, raspberries, pears or other fruit, these vinegars excite the palate.
Somehow, the joys of bread pudding escaped us for decades. Our moms didn't make it, and the plain-sounding name of this dessert never enticed us to experiment. But as comfort foods have made their comeback, we've gained appreciation for this budget-friendly dessert.
Traditional Steak Diane is prepared tableside in a flourish -- butter, tenderloin, cream, brandy and a burst of flames. Quick by nature, it is easy to adapt to the Desperation Dinner table even during midweek madness.
Gourmet specialty chips are yummy, and usually expensive, so we set out to see what it would take to make our own. After a couple of experiments, we settled on homemade pita chips as an easy and economical treat. The results are simply fantastic. Use them to scoop hummus or even to take the place of crackers.
We had never noticed tuna ''medallions'' before, but there they were, beautifully displayed in the fresh-seafood case.
Defining Indian curry is like trying to gather mercury into a neat pile -- the elusive liquid defies containment, moving freely with even the slightest nudge. So says our friend Raghavan Iyer, author of 660 Curries (Workman, 2008).
Alicia's daughter Hannah requested this ''Pre-Race Pasta'' before her first triathlon because it's easy to digest and great for night-before carbo-loading.
This is our go-to ''to go'' sandwich for Labor Day picnics, pool parties, outdoor concerts and general end-of-summer frolics. We've tried to cover all the bases -- safety, health, transport and taste.
Poppy-seed salad dressing is a bit retro -- think the 1980s -- but we're campaigning for a resurgence. The slightly sweet, slightly creamy dressing is the perfect counterpoint for a toss of baby lettuces, feta cheese and red-ripe strawberries.
Baked potatoes as a pantry staple? Why not? They're inexpensive, it doesn't take any longer to bake a dozen, and they'll refrigerate for up to a week.
Most men relate differently to their grills than women. At least at my house, a man with tongs, meat and fire has an excuse to hide in the backyard, sip beer and play the banjo -- preferably for a very long time.
When Alicia was a child, the best reward her parents could give her was a trip to a nearby restaurant for strawberry pie. Piled high with big juicy strawberries and smothered in whipped cream, that concoction is still one of her favorite summer desserts.
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