Beef Short Ribs braised in red wine produce a warming meal full of flavor with a hearty gravy to pour over mashed potatoes or pasta. At this time of year, everyone is focused on turkey and sides and pie. Sometimes we forget the other meals! One of my favorites things to do is make the first meal for when family arrives. If I am lucky it happens on Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving but even if it is Wednesday night it is just as special as Thanksgiving to me. It needs to be a meal that says home. Something warm and hearty. Definitely NOT poultry. And importantly it needs to be ...
Meat & Fish
MAHI MAHI IN PICCATA SAUCE
Did you know that there are more than 27,000 varieties of fish of which approximately 12 are sold in American Supermarkets? And at any given time, at least four of those will probably be salmon! You can break the fish down into two basic categories: flat fish (like flounder, sole and halibut) and round fish (think salmon and tuna) Within the categories of shape, you can further break the fish down into flavor. Lean white fish have a delicate flavor and “oily” fish have a richer, more distinct, taste. That’s all you really need to know to get started cooking fish. And one of the ...
CHICKEN AND FIGS: WELCOME BACK TO THE 1980’S
In the 1980's Chicken Marbella was all the rage. Here is a 2022 version, quicker, easier and lighter! It’s 1982. I live in a two-bedroom apartment on the Seine with a view of the Eiffel Tower. At night the Bateaux Mouche (riverboats) light up the ceiling of my bedroom as they pass slowly down the river, wowing the tourists with highlighted Belle Epoque architecture. I shop in the outdoor market on the Rue de Passy, where there is a bakery filled with baguettes and croissants for our morning treats. You would think I would be knee deep in French cooking. And I was, except just then I ...
Moroccan Lamb with Honeyed Figs
Wild lamb flavor is tamed with rich, winter spices: cinnamon, ground coriander, fresh ginger and cumin, and then finished with honey roasted figs, piquant pomegranate seeds and the complex citrusy flavor of cilantro. Serve it over couscous, quinoa or rice or sop up the juices with fresh bread--it's your choice! I have figs and I have lamb. Both of which are, in my opinion, under appreciated foods. Lamb is beef on steroids. Deep red and tender but with a wild gamy flavor that takes a little getting used to. It brings notes of earth and umani to a dish and can stand up to spice and heat ...
SAUTEED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH FRESH BLUEBERRY SAUCE
About halfway through my 2 quart basket of blueberries I decided that any true exploration of the ingredient required exploring its use in savory dishes as well as sweet baked ones. I looked to chicken for this. Americans have been pairing poultry with berries since the Civil War when General Grant served cranberry sauce to his soldiers along with turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner. Like the cranberry, blueberries are native to North America, making Chicken and Blueberry Sauce a close cousin of our Thanksgiving favorite. The blueberries bring a subtle sweetness to the dish which is ...
CILANTRO AND LIME AVOCADO SLAW
Replacing mayonnaise with avocado in the Cilantro Lime Sauce for this creamy slaw results in a rich and healthy Asian style slaw, perfect for using with fish dishes, in sandwiches or by itself! The seeds for this recipe were planting in Hong Kong in 1986. On one of my first forays into the local cuisine, I took a boat to the island of Lantau where I sat in a plastic chair at a rickety table on the waterside of the South China Sea. I was served a dish of fried rice with the freshest possible shrimp. It was delicious. But there was something in it I had never experienced before, a green ...
CHICKEN POT PIE
What do you think of when you think of when you think of chicken pot pie? I think of my childhood. Swanson's Frozen Chicken pot pie was what my mother left for us when she couldn’t be there to make dinner. My older sister would take them out of the freezer, one for each of us, and bake them in the oven. Sometimes, rarely, when they were ready, she let us take them downstairs to the playroom to eat in front of the TV. The thick white gravy would be bubbling up through the crust as I used my fork to break through to the pieces of chicken, peas and carrots inside. The salty ...
CARROT BEURRE MONTE SAUCE WITH PASTA AND SEAFOOD
Was it two years ago I went to Alaska? Yes. Two years since I rode with my family on a bus headed to Denali National Park and a cooking class with Chef Laura Cole of Top Chef fame. Two years since I dined on homemade pasta topped with fresh (never frozen) Alaskan King Crab and the most unlikely and scrumptious carrot sauce I have ever had. Two years and and then the world transformed, making that trip seem like a life time ago. After our lesson and meal, Chef Cole gave us the recipe and I put it in a file and then misplaced the file. But things have a way of ...
SHEET PAN DINNER POT LUCK: BUTTERNUT SQUASH, APPLES AND BRATWURST
Half pieces of vegetables in the refrigerator and partial packages of frozen meat are an inevitable part of living by yourself. Things just don’t come in single person sizes. You may very good at planning out menus and using everything up or you may be like me and save the unneeded portions until it is a question of toss it or use it. Today is a use-it day. I really didn’t feel like going to the store so I went to my fridge instead. And I found half a butternut squash, half an onion, some apples, and some frozen bratwurst. And carrots. (I always have carrots). This calls for a ...
LEARNING FROM THE BEST: BBQ COUNTRY STYLE RIBS
I am obsessed with the American BBQ Showdown on Netflix. It’s weird, I know. I don’t do a lot of bbq, mostly leaving that to my skilled and capable son-in-law. I love BBQ but it’s always seemed a little one note to me. However, there’s not a lot that’s new on TV these days and this show caught my eye. I’m so glad it did. I have learned a lot about meat and Southern sides and the vast array of people who love to make it. Kevin Bludso and Melissa Cookston are the judges and they are good. Melissa in particular knows how to cook the meat and sides. She can spot a mistake from a ...
