The smoker · 2½–3 hours
Read recipe ↗Smoked chicken quarters
Dry-brined, smoke-darkened chicken with bite-through skin and enough heat at the finish to make it count.
Leiter's Haus.
Food that earns its place at the table. Built, Not Dieted is the house rule: full flavor, real ingredients, and room for a good dinner.
FROM THE HAUS
Smoke, cast iron, and the rest of dinner.
Some cooks take all day; some need to work on a Tuesday. The recipes below started in the earlier Leiter's Haus collection and now have a home here, alongside the rest of what I make.
Start with what sounds good. Each recipe has ingredients, steps, and the details that matter in the kitchen.
WHY WE COOK THIS WAY
The food stayed.
We started changing how we ate because we wanted to lose weight and still enjoy sitting down to dinner. For me, a lower-carb approach became something I could live with; over time I lost about 100 pounds. It took more than finding a handful of substitute ingredients. We had to find meals we actually wanted to make again.
That is where the smoker, cast iron, and these recipes fit. We kept the flavor and the pleasure of cooking, then made choices we could repeat on ordinary days. This is a record of what made sense in our kitchen, with room to keep learning and changing.
THE FIRST COLLECTION
What are we cooking?
9 recipes · smoker days and weeknight dinners
Long smoke · 10–14 hours
Read recipe ↗Pepper-bark brisket
A patient brisket with a black-pepper bark, clean smoke and a rest long enough to protect the work you put into it.
Weeknight · 35 minutes
Read recipe ↗Cast-iron lamb chops
Garlic, rosemary, butter and a hard cast-iron sear. Rich enough for a centerpiece, fast enough for Tuesday.
Smoke & fire · 3½ hours
Read recipe ↗Crisp pork belly bites
Smoke-softened pork belly with crisp edges, a savory lacquer and just enough acidity to keep the next bite interesting.
Comfort · 55 minutes
Read recipe ↗Boursin spaghetti squash
Roasted squash, Boursin and Parmesan in a creamy, savory bake that never needs to pretend it is pasta.
Friday night · 45 minutes
Read recipe ↗Built-not-dieted pizza
A sturdy cheese-and-almond-flour crust with crisp edges and enough structure for the toppings you actually want.
For the table · 40 minutes
Read recipe ↗Fire-roasted poppers
Jalapeños filled with sharp, smoky cheese and finished until the peppers soften and the tops blister.
The griddle · 30 minutes
Read recipe ↗Egg-free corn fritters
Crisp-edged corn fritters with a tender center, built without eggs and sturdy enough to flip cleanly.
Something sweet · 10 minutes
Read recipe ↗Chocolate banana crunch
Chocolate pudding, thin-sliced banana and coconut crunch. Fast, cold and more satisfying than its assembly time suggests.