David Holloway

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Food Editor at AL.com

Retired food writer for Alabama Media Group. Large appetite, bad manners, big tipper. Half and half tea, please.

Articles

Cook out or cook in, these three recipes will make your July 4 a blast

2 days ago | al.com | David Holloway

Independence Day is special for a lot of reasons. It combines the best American virtues of patriotism and love of country with our shared devotion to gathering with friends to blow up stuff on a grand scale. Combine that with another prime American trait – the love of good food – and you have an excellent recipe for a midsummer party of epic proportions.
It’s heating up, so cool down your cooking with three main-dish salad recipes

1 week ago | al.com | David Holloway

How hot is it, you ask? It’s so hot that you can not only cook an egg on the sidewalk but also bake the biscuits to go with it simply by putting them in the garage and closing the door. You don’t need me to tell you that summer has arrived in our part of the world with fierce vengeance. And sadly, this unrelenting heat won’t let up until maybe October, so we’ve got that to look forward to. It’s not like we didn’t see it coming, right?
Father’s Day gifts? How about fried chicken and a skillet to cook it in?

2 weeks ago | al.com | David Holloway

Some folks hold that there is a shared trait among Southerners that we can turn just about anything into a good reason for a party. Today we want to focus on a bonafide reason to throwdown – Father’s Day. Ever since 1909, the third Sunday in June has been set aside to honor dear old dad for his contributions to the family. And I would also wager that ever since then folks have struggled to come up an appropriate way to celebrate the old man.
Corn lovers rejoice. Silver King and Silver Queen are back for the summer.

3 weeks ago | al.com | David Holloway

Around this time of year we meet a couple of things that have been much anticipated. One of them is good, the other not so much. Hurricane season, of course, officially commenced on June 1, and for the next several months we along the Alabama coast will keep a nervous eye on the tropics. The second doesn’t have a date certain like hurricane season, but hungry Alabamians keep an anxious eye on local vegetable stands for the arrival of sweet corn.
It’s almost brown shrimp season. These three recipes take advantage of the bounty.

1 month ago | al.com | David Holloway

I live near the Alabama coast, where it is common for folks to have somebody in their lives they call “the shrimp man.” What is a “shrimp man?” It’s got nothing to do with physical appearance or anything of the short. Instead, it’s a person who is generally well-versed in the subject of shrimp. That person is your go-to for quality, locally sourced shrimp at good prices.
Recipes for bacon-wrapped shrimp, smash burgers and French Dips make Memorial Day better, rauin or shine

1 month ago | al.com | David Holloway

According to the folks in Washington, D.C., who are in charge of such things, summer officially begins on June 20 when the summer solstice occurs. But according to folks in backyards all across America, Memorial Day is the officially unofficial commencement of the thing we call summer. It’s that roughly 100-day period when schools are closed and backyards become the place to host gala food fests.
Even social media wants recipes like Jezebel Sauce or Scotch Eggs or a casserole from the good old days

1 month ago | al.com | David Holloway

I confess that I am not the most social media savvy person in the world. It’s not my fault. I’m old, you see. Old enough to remember when there was no such thing as social media. In the olden days, when we wanted to socialize, we’d gather together in a room, put a vinyl on the old turntable and chat each other up over nibbles and (ahem) beverages. I know, it sounds quaint and old-fashioned, but it worked.
Need a Mother’s Day gift idea? How about a family brunch!

1 month ago | al.com | David Holloway

Many of us suddenly need to find an appropriate gift for the female caregiver in our lives. Sure, traditional gifts run the gamut from perfume and flowers to spa treatments and more jewelry. I can safely predict that any of those gifts will be greeted with enthusiasm and many hugs. But it is my long-held belief the perfect gift for Mom ought to be something more special, something more personal. And it’s not hard to assume that something I come up with will include the gift of food.
Any excuse for a party: These three dishes will liven up your Cinco de Mayo fiesta

1 month ago | al.com | David Holloway

Any excuse for a party, right? That’s sort of the way that I view the celebration that we undertake on the fifth of May each and every year that’s better known by its Mexican name – Cinco de Mayo. We all know that that day is when folks gather to drink Mexican beer, enjoy lots of guacamole and tacos and generally act up with reckless abandon. But I wager that most Americans would be hard pressed to explain just exactly what it is that we are celebrating.
Cooking with gas or charcoal, these sauce recipes make your barbecue better.

2 months ago | al.com | David Holloway

What’s better, charcoal or gas? That’s the eternal question of the grilling ages, one that backyard chefs have been asking since the first suburbanite lit a match to cook supper outdoors. It is also, arguably, the most personal of all questions that grillers must face. I have owned both forms over my long and scorched grilling odyssey, everything from a small charcoal grill made from an old drum to a stainless steel, propane masterpiece that cost more than my first car.