This is Mama Miche, and today in my Magic Kitchen: Crack Green Beans.

When a recipe has the word crack in the name, you already know it will be delicious and addictive and might become a favorite. Something you can’t stop eating. Crack green beans are no exception. Easy prep. Like, beyond easy. Tasty AF! I have only met a green bean I didn't like if it was mush. Even if you don't like green beans, I dare you not to love them. I dare you to make these and not love them. 

Let Mama Miche make your kitchen magic. MMMK, Let's eat!

This is Mama Miche, and today, in my magic kitchen: Smoked Turkey Leg

I love family traditions, and one of my love languages is food, so the holiday food traditions warm the cockles of my heart. BUT.  Turkey doesn't rock my world, and the only time we stuffed & roasted a turkey was for the Thanksgiving feast. I always preferred the sandwiches and Turkey a la King leftovers to the bird served at dinner. I make a moist, never-dry, and tasty roast turkey; however, if you want an orgasmic flavor, smoke and serve the most popular part: the leg! It's one of the quickest meats you can smoke on a smoker, and it's fantastic. Try this easy recipe. It's great any time, including Thanksgiving.

I don't make this enough, and I have no excuse or reason why I don't make this more often. I love stuffing vegetables with yummy fillings. It looks lovely, and it tastes divine. This stuffing is easy to make while the acorn squash cooks, and honestly, when these ingredients combine, your taste buds and your belly will be like, “Damn! You love me! You really love me.”

This is Mama Miche, and today in my magic kitchen: Sweet Potato Kugel

Aaah Kugel! There aren't that many foods that are more Jewish. As Jewish? Maybe. But not more. If you're not from a Jewish community or a community with no Jews, and they do exist, it's a foreign word and food.

This is Mama Miche, and today in my magic kitchen: Lamb shanks

There are certain foods that will forever evoke memories. Everyone has them. Just the smell can take you back to another place in time. Lamb, any cut, takes me to my Momster's kitchen and makes me think of her. She made a great leg of lamb and Shepherd's Pie with the leftovers. Her lamb chops were perfection. But her lamb shanks were the best I've ever had.

This is Mama Miche, and today, in my magic kitchen: corned beef hash

Are there any meals that you make for the leftovers? I am here for all of those meals, especially corned beef hash. And I'm extra; I use everything from the corned beef dinner in the hash. That's right. Not just the corned beef! The potatoes, carrots, the onions. I chop all that shit up and add to the sauté pan and scramble some eggs, and you might be drooling just thinking about it.

This is Mama Miche, and today in my magic kitchen: Jew"ish" Brisket

I am not a religious Jew, nor do I keep a kosher home; in fact, I've joked I'm Jew "ish." I still love traditional Jewish holiday foods. Judaism–It's the only religion that is an ethnicity as well, as far as I know.

Brisket is one go-to multi-holiday meal! You can make it for Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, or Passover.

This is Mama Miche and today in my magic kitchen: Poulet à l'oignon

In honor of one of the greatest love stories on television, Abe and Rose Weissman from the Marvelous Ms. Maisel series, I made this French Onion Chicken dish. I imagine it would be something Rose would ask Zelda to make Abe if he ever got out of line again. Instead of going back to France, this would remind him that she did leave him once and would again, while also bringing back the memories of them falling in love again in Paris.

This is Mama Miche, and today in my magic kitchen: Valentine'choke

No, I didn't just reveal my kinky side… or did I?

When it comes to food, there are a few that are considered aphrodisiacs. Oysters, strawberries, honey, and avocados are among them. One of my favorites, though, is the artichoke—and not just the heart. I'll eat the whole damn thing, steamed, dipped in melted butter with Twice Stolen Spice™.

They take a long time to cook unless you use one of the greatest kitchen inventions ever: the Instant Pot. It takes hours off cooking times for some foods. A small artichoke steams in 5 minutes. A large one stuffed with this incredibly decadent seafood stuffing takes 15 minutes! This brings me more joy than it should.

This is Mama Miche, and today in my Magic Kitchen, Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

I remember helping my Momster in the kitchen when I was growing up, and I learned to be very creative from her. Not just in the kitchen. She encouraged my creativity and allowed me and my imagination to grow. She was my self-proclaimed biggest cheerleader on the planet. She was honest but always encouraging. And as you may know, she was an amazing cook.

This is Mama Miche, and today in my magic kitchen: Pasta Bake

Baked ziti, spaghetti, and even lasagna are essentially pasta bakes. Pasta, sauce, and cheese are the main ingredients; they are all inexpensive and filling and can be made to feed large crowds easily and affordably.

I'm a cheese lover, but to be honest, it's the sauce that makes or breaks a pasta bake. It's got to taste good and be plentiful, or it'll be dry, and nobody wants that.

This is Mama Miche, and today in my magic kitchen, Meatloaf

Meatloaf is a traditional dish with roots in Germany, Scandinavia, and Belgium, cousin to the Dutch meatball but no relation to Marvin "Bat out of hell" Lee Aday, aka the recording artist Meatloaf. There are even early records in Rome of a dish made with chopped meat, bread, and wine. It's been around.

The meatloaf we know and love has its origins in scrapple, served by German-Americans in Pennsylvania since colonial times. Scrapple doesn't look appealing. I've never tried it, but it's quite popular in the state where we currently live. Maybe one day I will. One never knows, do one?