Roasted grapes were one of the first things that made me realize the oven could transform something sweet into something savory. I'd been roasting regular grapes for years before I finally tried it with muscadines, thinking the skins would be too tough and tannic. I was wrong. The skin holds its shape but loses its chew, and the flesh becomes pure jammy muscadine essence. Paired with caramelized Brussels sprouts, link sausage, and a bright Dijon-lemon dressing, this sheet pan dinner hits every taste we have—sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami. It's perfect in early fall with roast meats, on its own, or next to a bowl of greens. Just don't skip scraping up all that caramelized goodness from the pan.
It's Cliché for a Reason | Party Magnet Cheeseball
The cheese ball is such a cliché that it's actually become cool again—right up there with pigs in a blanket and baked potatoes. And whether it's socially acceptable or not, when you put one out at a party, people hover over it like it's a crystal ball. This version combines blue cheese, goat cheese, cream cheese, and butter with chopped dates, scallions, and hot sauce, then gets rolled in salt-and-butter-roasted pecans and fresh parsley. The key is bringing it out at least thirty minutes before serving so it's spreadable and all those flavors can really come through. Keep your crackers simple—sea salt or plain is the way to go. And consider doubling the recipe because a fully formed cheese ball freezes and travels beautifully.
Food & Wine recognizes This Will Make It Taste Good
“Howard brings that same storyteller sensibility—paired with serious restaurant-honed kitchen chops—to teach home cooks easily achievable building block recipes and techniques that lend an extra level of pleasure to the simplest dishes, while letting the ingredients shine through.”
Publisher's Weekly's Review of This Will Make It Taste Good
“Howard’s enthusiastic exploration of her life in and out of the kitchen shows her at her best and most delightful.”
Eater recognizes This Will Make It Taste Good
“I’ve been mentioned in the same sentence as Ina Garten and finally feel like I’ve made it,” said Vivian.
Eater: Famed North Carolina Chef opens Cafe in Charleston
Visit Handy & Hot at 68 Wentworth Street, Charleston, SC.
https://carolinas.eater.com/2020/8/11/21363155/vivian-howard-cafe-charleston
This Will Make It Taste Good comes out on October 20th!
Pre-order your copy today.
Picnic Party Pick-up Packs are here!
It has everything you need for a delicious damn time.
Outfit your pantry with Red Weapons
It’s the one ingredient always in Vivian’s fridge. Red Weapons and their flavor hero friends are the subject of Vivian’s next book — This Will Make It Taste Good — out October 2020.
Benny's Big Time has reopened for take-out
Are y’all hanging in there? We have missed y’all so much and appreciate all the messages of love and support and inquiries about our reopening over the last few weeks. Our pizza mafia has been in the kitchen, lighting the ovens and getting things going again. It feels so good to be back at work even though so much has changed.
We have some good news: tomorrow, we’ll re-open our takeout program, Benny’s at Home, with pizza, salad and wine. We’re keeping it simple to start, but as we get our footing in this new world, we’ll add more offerings. Our number one priority is the safety of our guests and staff, so we’ve put measures in place to ensure you’ll feel more comfortable than ever ordering takeout from us. In addition to sanitizing surfaces every half-hour and wearing masks at all times, we also have a new online ordering system and contactless pickup infrastructure in place. You can still call and place your order over the phone with a credit card, as well. We won’t accept cash at this time.
When you arrive to pick up your order at your designated time, park in the adjacent parking lot in spaces market for Benny’s or the street as available. Your order will be waiting for you through our front door in the vestibule with your name and order number on it. If there is someone in the vestibule when you arrive, please wait for them to exit.
We are also offering in-house delivery, in addition to UberEats and DoorDash, which allows us to keep our incredible staff working.
We’ll be open 5-9 Tuesday-Thursday and 5-10 on the weekends.