Like any casserole, this is one of those meals that doesn’t look that impressive. I wouldn’t necessarily serve it for company. But, it is easy to whip up, works with what you have, and goes over well with both children and adults. So in my books, a weekday win.
Read MoreI don’t know how authentic “Indonesian” this recipe is—I don’t even know where we got this recipe—but in our family it has gone by the name “Indonesian Chicken,” sometimes “Peanut Butter Chicken,” for years.
Read MoreI have two pork recipes I use if I have a pork shoulder or butt: carnitas or milk-braised pork. They’re both great recipes and I doubt we’ll ever get sick of them, especially as they are really versatile and the leftovers freeze great and work with a multitude of subsequent meals. But I had a bone-in pork shoulder roast sitting in my fridge this week, just asking for special treatment. If you’ve watched Salt Fat Acid Heat on Netflix (which you should!), you’ll know what I mean when I say the idea of a porchetta sandwich was driving me a little crazy. One of my Cook’s Illustrated magazines had a porchetta recipe which I had been eyeing for a while, but I wasn’t up for deboning and fussing over any meat, so I skipped all that and roasted it bone-in. I guess I can’t compare it side by side to a boneless version, but it was incredibly delicious. The fat on the outside gets crispy and all crackling like and just explodes with flavor. It was a smash hit - and pretty simple and straightforward for all that.
Read MoreHello again! Yes, we have been on an almost month long hiatus. It was not intentional. In fact, the three of us discussed how we wanted to avoid the post-Christmas silence this year. Obviously that fell through.
Read MoreWe recently moved from Florida to Colorado, where my husband is originally from. In fact, we moved back to the same city where he grew up—into the same house he lived from when he was 6 weeks old to 18 years and heading off to college.
That’s right. We’ve moved in with his parents while we work on getting a new venture off the ground.
Read MoreI can’t believe I’m only just getting this recipe into a blog post. I think it’s because its one of those dishes we have so often that I throw it together without even thinking. You’d think that would make an easy write up, but it ends up being really tricky to sit down and list out the precise ingredient quantities and directions for a process which has become reflexive and automatic. Nevertheless, for you, dear readers, I have made the effort.
This recipe was given to me in a simpler form. Over the years I have tweaked it here and there to our tastes. It’s simple, budget friendly, packed with flavor, feeds a crowd or makes multiple meals, … what more can you ask for? I hope you’ll take it and tweak it here and there and over time make it yours!
Read More
This post contains referral links; all opinions expressed are completely our own.
A friend of mine hosted a Cookbook Party this past weekend and the cookbook of choice was Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Kitchen”. She’s such a charming personality - so effortlessly beautiful, so at ease and likeable - but I haven’t actually cooked many of her recipes so I didn’t know what to expect for this dinner. I chose the Risotto Bolognese because I never spend the time on a good bolognese or a good risotto; a recipe that killed both those birds with one stone seemed pretty ideal to me.
This is not a quick and easy recipe. It’s not difficult, but it’s definitely the kind of cooking saved for when you want to be a cook, not a mom throwing dinner on the table in the hectic early hours of evening. The bolognese sauce requires some work up front and then a low-and-slow cook in the oven; the rice gets slowly cooked in the sauce (with the addition of more broth) for a total of about 2 hours. That last bit requires constant stirring, but the resulting dish is well worth the effort. The bolognese is so rich and flavorful and the rice has the perfect texture of firm but yielding. This is comfort food at its sophisticated best.
The other meals at the party included pumpkin parmesan scones, panzanella, creamy tarragon chicken, and chicken with chorizo and potatoes, just to name a few. (I won’t even get started on the desserts … no, really, I can’t … but just let me say CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CHEESCAKE. Ok, I’m done. But oh my gosh it was so good.) I thought all the dishes were really good (although I have to say I was puzzled by the omission of salt in many of her recipes) and definitely within the realm of practical home cooking.
Nigella’s engaging personality comes through even her simplest instructions. My adaptation of her recipe below will have neither her charm nor her abundance of other good recipes, the kind you can turn to when you need reliably good and flavorful results. I recommend purchasing a copy of her cookbook Nigella Kitchen for your cookbook collection!
feeds 6 as a main and 8-10 as a side
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped roughly
1 onion, peeled and chopped roughly
1 celery stalk, chopped roughly
1 clove garlic
a handful of parsley
1/2 lb bacon, chopped roughly
4 anchovy fillets or 1 tsp anchovy paste (can skip)
3 Tbsp butter (+ 1 Tbsp extra for later)
8 oz ground beef
1/3 cup dry marsala
14-oz can diced tomatoes, processed into a puree
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp whole milk
2 quarts veal broth, divided into 2 cups and 6 cups (I used roasted beef broth)
2 large bay leaves or 4 smaller ones
2 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Instructions
Combine the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, bacon, and anchovy (paste) in a food processor and process on low until into a chunky paste.
Preheat the oven to 300. In a large dutch oven or pot with a heavy lid, heat the 3 Tbsp butter with a splash of olive oil over medium heat. Cook the pasty onion bacon mixture until soft, stirring, about 5-8 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring and breaking up, until the meat is cooked through. Stir in the marsala. Add the pureed diced tomatoes, the milk, 2 cups broth, and the bay leaves. Stir while the mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, cover with lid and put in the oven to cook for 1 hour.
A little before the hour is up, warm the remaining broth over low heat. Take the meat mixture out of the oven and remove the bay leaves. Keep over low heat. Add the rice in along with a ladleful of broth, stirring constantly until the broth has been absorbed and the mixture thickened. Add another ladleful of broth and repeat, always stirring. Keep repeating this process until the rice is cooked through. The rice should be yielding with the slightest bit of resistance - not mushy but not crunchy. You might not use all the broth but keep in mind that the rice will continue to absorb as it sets. You’re going for a balance between soupy and clumpy.
Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan, then the extra tablespoon of butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
*Nigella recommends forming any cold leftovers into patties and frying them up in a well oiled griddle until hot and crispy. I did this for dinner the day after and served them topped with a fried egg on crusty bread. It was fantastic!
Simply Divine Carrot Soup is simple, and divine. Carrots, onions, garlic, a splash of white wine, broth, salt and pepper, and heavy cream combine into a silky smooth soup that lets the carrots shine.
Read MoreI wanted to share our consistent, years-long favorite: spinach pesto with ricotta and chicken … except that it got beat out today by a last minute flavor variation: spinach mushroom artichoke! I’m a little miffed about it, but I’m left with no choice but to share both recipes with you.
Read MoreThe first time I had gnocchi was during a family trip to Italy, during the girls’ trip to Florence specifically. One bite, and I wondered why these little potato dumplings of goodness had never been in my life before. Not long after returning home, I discovered a recipe in the Joy of Cooking and quickly made it. From there, I began making gnocchi more and more frequently from hosting a number of gnocchi parties throughout college to making them for my husband and now my family.
Read MoreAbout a year ago, I shared on the blog one of my favorite fall recipes: Pumpkin Sausage Penne. Comforting, satisfying, spiced—it basically checks all the boxes for a cozy autumn meal.
Over the years, I haven’t fussed with the recipe much. I liked it the way it was. But this time around, when Fall arrived and I rushed to the kitchen to prepare this dish, I realized I had to change a few things up…
…And I loved it.
Read MoreThis ratatouille is not pretty. It’s nothing like the one in the Pixar movie. It is basically an obscenely large collection of vegetables that get chopped, generously doused in olive oil, and then roasted until they’re soft and caramelized and melded together into a deeply flavorful dish. The simplest process coaxes so much flavor out of such basic ingredients. And then I get to watch my kids gobble down a couple days worth of vegetable servings in one sitting - and with delight! It’s pretty magical.
Read MoreI love a good veggie burger. I love a good hamburger too, but veggie burgers are so much fun because you can pack so much flavor into them. Plus, the directions you can go seem endless! Even where to start with the base can be a hard choice -- black bean, lentil, chickpea...you name it! Then what sort of cuisine? Tex-mex, Indian, Moroccan, Mediterranean...again, you name it! I haven't even started on what toppings you can add. Finally, homemade buns make them that much more tasty.
Read MoreI love this dinner. If I were planning to host a fancy dinner, I'd choose this in a heartbeat. It's unfailingly delicious. It can be vegetarian or meat filled. It isn't technical, yet it looks incredibly elegant. Plus, you can easily make almost all of the components ahead of time and simply assemble and bake an hour before hosting.
Read MoreI was flipping through the weekend newspaper a few months back when I passed over an interview with Jeni Britton Bauer. I probably would've continued flipping pages, but there was an inset recipe for hot fudge sauce that made me pause. Putting two and two together, I realized this was Jeni of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.
Read MoreThis salad is a delight. It's so fresh and flavorful and the perfect accompaniment to barbecue, spicy Mexican, or any lighter spring/summer meal. Fresh sweet corn contrasts with salty feta and the zing of the lime bounces around in your mouth with the herby cool of cilantro. The fresh zucchini gets softened by the vinaigrette but keeps a pleasantly firm texture which it otherwise loses when cooked.
Read MoreThis dish is a perfect instance of where few and simple ingredients come together and become amazingly, astonishingly flavorful. It's fantastic on its own with a side of rice, but also makes for a good burrito meat as it can be stretched while still providing a flavor punch.
Read MoreThere was a bowl filled with 10 cups of homemade chicken broth in my fridge that was fast approaching the 1-week mark. I'm not 100% positive about how long various things stay "fresh" in the fridge, and I suspect it is oftentimes longer than the standard safety recommendations*, but in general I operate under the 1-week policy. Under a week? Eat it. Over a week? Toss it. It's that hazy 6-7 day area where I know my logic is a bit spurious. It's okay to eat at 11pm on Day 6, but by 9am on Day 7 it has got to go.
Read MoreI don’t think I would’ve thought to try a soufflé if I hadn’t been searching through this one particular magazine for a recipe I could fit into that week’s menu with the ingredients I had on hand. I think in my mind i had relegated soufflé to stuffy dinner parties or French restaurants, not weekday meals. Turns out, soufflé is simple enough for a weekday meal AND tasty enough to be gobbled down by kids and adults alike. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given the main ingredients of egg and cheese.
Read MoreA while back, I got an issue of Real Simple in the mail that included a 4-week meal plan. I had been in a bit of a meal slump at the time, so the idea of having someone else plan out my menu for the month was something I embraced with full force.
Some of the meals turned out to be duds, or just plain old unspectacular. Other meals have worked their way into my staple recipes, surprising me by their ease of assembly and fantastic flavors. This White Bean & Spinach Soup is one of those recipes.
Read More
