A King Cake for Mardi Gras

By Joanne Lamb Hayes
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

At my house, Mardi Gras always caused a big debate. Are we going to have pancakes, doughnuts or King Cake? Now that everyone is grown up and my grandchildren get a vote, this King Cake easily wins but I suspect some members of the family might pick up a doughnut on their way to work or home from school.

The egg-free dough is easily prepared in a food processor or mixer and even very young children like to roll out, roll up, shape and taste a bite of the dough.

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A Winning Chili for Super Bowl Sunday

By Joy Taylor
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

I’ll admit right up front that my favorite teams got knocked out of Super Bowl contention weeks ago. (Okay, if you must know: Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers; long story that I would like BOTH rivals. But, hey, I’m a Midwesterner.)

But despite their losses, I’ll still be glued to the TV come Sunday for the royal conclusion to football season. That means our home will be filled with people and enough food to satisfy the whole defensive line.

The most all-American of foods will be a part of the menu: chili. Now everyone has their favorite bowl of red – with or without beans, blazin’ hot or mildly sweet; pork cubes or ground beef. If you haven’t already settled on your Super Bowl game plan, food-wise, perhaps you’ll give one of my favorite chili recipes a try.

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The Secret to Moist Chicken Breasts

By Linda Lau Anusasananan
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

My Hakka Chinese grandmother, whom I called Popo, was adamant that chicken should not be overcooked. She insisted that the flesh have a smooth, slippery texture.

I adapted her cooking technique for whole chicken, likely borrowed from the Cantonese, to chicken breasts. Breasts are convenient and easy to cook, but tend to dry out when overcooked. Steeping ensures a moist texture, every time.

This Chinese method is super easy and practically foolproof. Just boil water, add chicken pieces, return to boil, cover pan and turn off the heat. The chicken cooks in the residual heat, gently steeping to a silky smoothness that Popo would have approved of. It's a forgiving technique – since there is no constant direct heat, the chicken remains moist even if it steeps slightly too long.

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Pork Tenderloin – Better with Bacon!

By Debby Goldsmith
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

I’ve heard it said often that everything is better with butter. With that, I can’t disagree! However, I also like to think that everything (almost) is better with bacon – especially pork tenderloin.

Pork tenderloin is a leaner cut of meat and that’s one of the major reasons it’s so popular. (Quick-cooking is probably a close second.) A few strips of bacon wrapped around a tenderloin can make a good thing even better.

This no-fuss recipe, always a popular one with my family, also works well for a dinner party. It’s just as easy to cook two tenderloins as it is to cook one!

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What’s for Dinner? Pulled Chicken in 30 Minutes

Andrew and Marilyn Hunter are on hiatus as Andrew begins shooting the premier season of a new reality TV show. During their absence, The Family Table will be penned by our Special Fork Food Editors.

By Joanne Lamb Hayes
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

When my family discovered pulled pork sandwiches at a local barbecue restaurant, they asked me if I would make them at home and I said, “Well, maybe.” But every time I thought about marinating, wet mopping and slow roasting a big chunk of meat for hours, I decided to just take them back to the restaurant.

Then on one visit we noticed something new on the menu, pulled chicken. It was delicious and I said, “This I can make!”

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