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Category: Main Dish
Tonight I made another robust meal – beef bourguignon. Okay, okay… you can stop rolling your eyes now, this recipe is what I consider my best approximation for a quick and easy beef bourguignon. I did not go through untold number of complicated steps to make this meal. I also did not cook it for 3 hours because I used a shortcut. Of course, I bet you are skeptical… it is only natural. But you can rest assured this dish was stupendous, if I say so myself! Go ahead, make it and see for yourself… your skepticism will be assuaged (and your taste buds rewarded!). Save Print Beef Bourguignon Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour 20 mins Total time: 1…
Tonight I made a flavorful soup for a cold winter night using the rest of the potatoes and cabbage I had from last week’s shopping. The basic recipe comes from Rachel Ray, but of course, I changed it. The primary changes were to add hickory smoked bacon and two types of paprika, something I felt would provide depth of flavor. To be honest, I would expect to see this recipe in a Central or Eastern European home cookbook with all it has going on. This recipe does make more than 1 serving, so expect leftovers… which is not a bad thing! Save Print Kielbasa, Cabbage and Potato Soup Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour 15 mins Total time: 1 hour…
Remember in one of my first posts I mentioned planning to reduce the possibility of waste. Well, when I used the ricotta in two recent recipes (Simple Stollen and Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Waffles), I still had approximately 1/4 cup remaining. Not wanting to waste it, I built this recipe around it. It is a simple recipe and easy to adapt to other ingredients like chicken instead of sausage; brussel sprouts, green beans or cauliflower instead of broccoli; etc. Just know that for all the planning, sometimes you just have to wing it. So, are you ready to try something new and delicious? If so, then dive right in! Save Print Orchiette with Italian Sausage and Broccoli with Lemon Ricotta Sauce Prep time: 10 mins Cook time…
Let’s start the new year with an often overlooked dish that deserves more recognition. I will admit even I forget about this simple, but versatile meal. So today I want to correct that and bring some love to egg foo yung. This recipe is just one of many variations possible – this dish is truly one where you can let your creativity run wild. And did I mention that it is fast to make? Quick, versatile, and tasty… this is a winner I need to make more often! Save Print Egg Foo Yung Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 20 mins Serves: 5 Ingredients 4 large or extra large eggs ¼ cup bamboo shoots, julienned ¼…
Tonight I paired my dinner with the Friday night cocktail, French 75, I made. So I opted to make a simple dish – prawns with asparagus in a sherry cream sauce served over capellini. Simple, rich, and delicately spiced, I figured this meal would accompany my Friday night cocktail superbly. And I was spot on, it did. So if you want a versatile prawn pasta dish, I suggest you give this one a try. With a few adjustments, you can change the flavor profile. Some adjustments that come to mind are adding lemon and/or capers, substituting spinach for the asparagus or chicken/scallops for the prawns, whisking in parmesan cheese for a quick alfredo style sauce, etc. Adjustments and tweaks like those are the things that keep…
Leftovers… they are going to occur sometime, especially around the holidays or other large group meals. Well, I had mashed potatoes left from the duchess potatoes I made for Christmas dinner, so I was challenged with what to make with them. In contemplating what dish to cook that would use up these delicious mashed potatoes, one thing came to mind… shepherd’s pie. Easy to make and oh so delicious, now I am eager for dinner. Using frozen vegetables like petite corn and a pea and carrot mix just enhances the simplicity of this dish. Of course I had some of my ground beef, pork, and lamb mix in the freezer as well, so all that was left was to put it together. Shall we…
Today I am posting pictures only to show you some of the meals I make that do not become posts. Most of these meals are variants of recipes I have already posted. Like this Sweet and Sour Pork based on the Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe… or 2 styles of knackwurst with caraway sauerkraut and roasted red potatoes similar to Knackwurst, rosemary garlic potato slices, and braised bacon caraway cabbage… or a simple chili recipe that is not like the Chuckwagon Chili at all! This is a recipe I have planned for a future post – maybe before the year ends. And here are two bonus pictures of tonight’s dinner experiment – sous vide carne asada using flank steak! Save Save Save Save…
Here is the lowdown on how I finished the sous vide chicken cordon bleu I prepared recently. Using sous vide makes this dish so simple and nearly foolproof. I paired it with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts, both cooked sous vide. So… set up your water bath and let’s finish this dinner! Save Print Chicken Cordon Bleu Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 80 mins Total time: 1 hour 25 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 1 prepared chicken cordon bleu breast 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp olive oil pinch of salt few grinds of black pepper Extra cheese slices from the preparation step (optional) Extra ham slices from the preparation step (optional) Instructions Set up your sous vide water bath to…
Today, I want to show you how I prepare chicken cordon bleu for cooking sous vide style. If you have ever made chicken cordon bleu before, you know that cheese usually begins spilling out before the chicken is done, making a mess and impacting the final results you hoped for. So rather than use a combination of complicated folds and toothpicks/skewers to avoid this situation, I use the vacuum sealed bag to keep everything tight and in place while it cooks in the water bath. Once the chicken is cooked thoroughly, simply open the vacuum bag and finish preparing the rolled chicken breast by breading and frying or just pan searing it. Another bonus is that you can prepare several chicken breasts at once and conveniently freeze…
Want to kick things up a little bit? Then this dish is for you. Last night’s dinner was based on Thai crab fried rice, but I wanted more than the delicious dish I can get at any number of Thai restaurants in the area. So I mashed up a simple beef stir fry with crab fried rice to create Surf and Turf fried rice. This way I incorporated vegetables into the meal, paired the richness of the crab with some beef, and created something new (I think). This dish is a great shareable since it definitely makes enough for two… or you could just enjoy leftovers next day! So now that I have your attention, let’s get it done! Save Print Surf and…