I've been threatening for a long time to grace the world with my culinary exploits, so here at long last I make good on my promise.

All of these recipes and their accompanying side dishes are easy to make. They better be or I won't bother. Experimental cooking appeals to the mad scientist in me but I'm not interested in recipes that resemble the process for cracking and refining crude oil into premium gasoline.

These recipes are also a great way to eat very well on a modest budget. Before I began to indulge my taste for good wines, my grocery bill was less than $100 a month. The price of oil has made that a dream of the past, but you can still eat very well for a modest outlay.

A little culinary philosophy is in order.

Good food begins with good ingredients. Don't substitute the good stuff. Use butter, not "Light Tasty Spread". A little lemon juice in lowfat milk does not make a suitable substitute for buttermilk. Fresh is better than canned. Baby portobellos from the fresh produce section beats a can of "Pieces and Stems" any day. You get the picture.

Good food has some fat in it. Just because its got some butter or a little olive oil doesn't make it a dietary nightmare. You won't gain weight from cooking with the quantities of fat in my recipes. Leave off the soft drinks and the hoo-hoos and let the good food alone!

Be daring! Its difficult to ruin a dish if you exercise a modicum of common sense. I cannot remember the last time I did (ruin a dish, I mean). ;)

I like to use spices. If you have a sensitive palate adjust accordingly, but don't leave out the flavor. A good way to find new ideas is just to read the spice bottle and smell the contents. Its usually suggestive of appropriate combinations.

Don't get hung up on measures. I don't even own a measuring cup or spoon set. Cook by instinct.