Supermarket Superstar Premiere

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

I’m taking a brief respite from writing about the Hunter family table, Ben and Nick’s silly antics in the kitchen, and Marilyn’s well-crafted recipes, to tell you about something very exciting – Supermarket Superstar.

Supermarket Superstar is Lifetime’s all-new competition series that will give everyday Americans the chance to prove they have the next great product consumers will love. Premiering on Monday, July 22, at 10 ET/PT and hosted by Stacy Keibler, Supermarket Superstar gives undiscovered food entrepreneurs their chance to shine among the big brands in the highly competitive food industry.

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Red Onion Rings

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

Families cannot live on spinach alone, so on special occasions when the boys are really good, onion rings are in order. Deep-frying in the house is kind of a messy proposition, so I thought I was a genius when I set up the electric fryer on the patio table ... you might want to try the same.

I used to slice yellow or white onions for my onion rings until I met Patsy, my beloved mother-in-law. Patsy likes three things in abundance: ice, iced tea and red onions. Sometimes at lunch, I wonder why she bothers with the lettuce, but it’s just a foil for her thinly sliced red onions.

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An American Favorite

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

For better or worse, we all grew up with a tradition of meatloaf at the family table. Most of us endured a combination of beef and pork mixed with dried herbs, fresh onions if we were lucky, and a thick blanket of ketchup across the top, which was the loaf’s saving grace.

Marilyn and I figured that we would continue the tradition with Ben and Nick so that they might pass it down to their kids in 20 years. The boys like leftover meatloaf better than hot out of the oven. I’m not sure why, except they get to take meatloaf sandwiches in their lunchboxes.

The version below is a starter recipe, meaning if you haven’t made meatloaf before, try this version. It won’t be as good as your mom’s because no meatloaf ever is, but it’ll be your meatloaf, which will make it better. The variations below are for when you feel like an adventure in the kitchen and on your palate.

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Smoky Grilled Short Ribs

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

When I fire up the grill, I put everything on it I can find in the fridge. Not because it’s lots of work to build a charcoal fire, but because it’s sacrilege to let that fire burn without infusing its smoky goodness into as much food as possible.

On this same kettle fire, I cooked chicken thighs that were pulled from the bone and used in sandwiches and on salads. I cooked burgers for the boys’ lunch, and I smoked tomatoes, onions, Poblano peppers and pineapple for some sauces and a fruity pico de gallo I was inspired to make.

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Tempura Night

By Andrew Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

One of the boys’ favorite dinners in Tokyo was an all-you-can-fry-and-eat tempura house … with a chocolate fountain for dessert, no less. Ben and Nick were more excited about the do-it-yourself dining than the menu.

After choosing skewers of chicken, beef, salmon, scallops, mushrooms, onions, potatoes and other deep fry-able treats, we dipped our fancy into bowls of ice cold tempura batter then into little cauldrons of hot fat nestled in the table tops. It’s the kind of place one should only ever go on vacation because otherwise it would form a calorie-heavy addiction.

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