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Hi Reader, Come on, 'fess up. You think that stuffing is the star of Thanksgiving dinner. I know I certainly do. Sure, turkey is great. Smothered in gravy, it's even better. But it's the carb-loading of stuffing that makes me oh so happy on Turkey Day. I love it so much that in my cookbook, The New Portuguese Table, I offer up two stuffings for Thanksgiving. You'll find both at the bottom of this newsletter. Also, some of you were asking more about turkey stock. Here's a video I made a few years ago. I didn't have a recipe. I bought some turkey necks and chicken gizzards and tossed in stuff from the fridge and pantry. A great stock is really that easy. My Best Thanksgiving
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Hi Reader, Yesterday at breakfast, The One put down his yellow Fiesta coffee cup and nestled it in the blue Fiesta saucer. (He's resolute that the joy of colorful vintage pottery is in mixing...never matching.)“What are we doing for Easter?” he asked.Now, you’d think that would be a pretty easy answer. But Easter in the Portuguese world has never been a modest holiday. It’s not the kind of meal where you quietly roast a chicken and call it a day. No. Easter is a production. A Wagnerian opera...
Hi Reader, There’s a moment every month when I stop pretending I’m the boss of you and admit the obvious: you run this kitchen. I can wax poetic about saffron and slow simmers, but your clicks, comments, and “made it twice this week” notes tell the real story—what actually made it from screen to stove on a Tuesday when the day ran long and the sink was already full.March had a type: unfussy, hard-working recipes with just enough sparkle to feel like a win. Dishes that forgave substitutions,...
Hi Reader, When my avó Leite baked, she didn’t consult a recipe so much as a memory palace: a pinch measured by knuckle, a pour judged by the sound it made hitting the bowl. I, on the other hand, have a stand mixer that could reel in a small boat, four oven thermometers, and three scales accurate enough to dose a fruit fly (or run a bespoke drug business)—and I still managed, for years, to turn massa sovada into a sullen doorstop. Vu Leite, Vo Leite, and Papa Leite during wine making season...