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Category: Main Dish
While researching something new and different to make with pork tenderloin, I cam across this Serious Eats recipe for Daeji Bulgogi. If the description was not enough to convince me to try this dish, the pictures sure were. Also, this dish allows me to use my new Korean BBQ grill pan if the weather does not allow me to use the grill – which was the case. I really enjoyed this simple grilled pork tenderloin dish. The robust heat from the gochujang and kimchi paired very nicely with the briny sweetness of the pickled carrots. The lettuce made a perfect wrap while the rice added just the right amount of body to really satisfy. Overall this dish is super simple to make – provided you plan it a…
Lebanese loaded rice? Well, thanks to Suzy at The Mediterranean Dish, I am made this Middle Eastern cousin to Dirty Rice directly from her recipe. I wanted to experience the flavors for myself before I engaged in paring the recipe down for one person. This dish is downright delicious. Suzy is so right when she mentions it is typically a side dish but can be used as a main dish just as easy. The rich and warm spices used are typical of Middle Eastern cuisine and wonderfully augment the ground beef/lamb mixture I used. The hearty ratio of meat to rice means it is filling and coupled with toasted almonds, pine nuts, and dried fruit, you can just imagine the spectrum of flavors going on. The only…
Today’s recipe is a playful dish made with vibrant red and green vegetables paired with beef in a stir fry. I was checking my vegetable crisper in the refrigerator while making my shopping list and saw I had some asparagus. I knew I had some beef and those two ingredients are tasty together. I had half of a red bell pepper and the rest, as they say, is history. Instead of my usual spicy stir fry, I opted for a deep umami flavor by using shitake mushrooms and mushroom flavored dark soy sauce; the latter used as the predominant part of the sauce. Slivered onions, ginger, garlic, white pepper, and rice cooking wine round out the ingredients. Quick and easy to prepare, intensely flavorful, and quite…
I found this dish researching some other recipes I want to make and the simplicity really struck me. A one pot pasta dinner that really works? Well, the gang at Serious Eats seem to think so, so who am I to question it? The truth is, this dish is super simple and really delicious! The sausage creates the base flavor, the spinach adds its supporting flavors, and all of it is bound to the pasta with a little cream and a heap of Romano cheese. While this dish may not make the weight loss cookbooks, it makes mine for being a simple, delicious one pot pasta that satisfies the need for a quick meal. So if you are seeking a way to enjoy spinach and pasta, give this…
Recently, I received an blog update from The Daring Gourmet where she had a recipe for Valencian Paella that looked absolutely heavenly. I just knew I had to try it and somehow my mind just latched onto some weird ‘Valencia/Valentine’ word association and here we are, me proposing you enjoy this dish with your someone special this Valentine’s Day. You could start your romantic dinner with a sous vide lobster cocktail while sipping champagne, enjoy this flavorful paella with a crisp viognier or a beautiful dry rosé, then finish with dessert… Heck at that point you are on your own, I got you this far! And with that, I bid everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day – whether you are single…
OK, now that I have your attention with that beautiful recipe title, I am sure you want to know what it is. Well, it is meatballs in a roasted red pepper sauce. Doesn’t that sound delicious? I thought so, that’s why I made it. I used mild Italian sausage, whole milk ricotta, and panko crumbs for the meatballs to create a mild flavor that will not compete with the robust sauce. Mentioning the sauce, it is simply flavored so the roasted red peppers shine. It seems that this dish would be one dimensional, but the beauty is in the sum of all the parts. The sausage renders its juices into the sauce, the sauce gains a silky mouth feel with that lovely pork flavor…
How about a comfort food perfect for a dreary February weeknight? This dish is quick to prepare (about an hour unrushed!), yet filled with flavor. Apparently this dish was named after a wealthy Russian diplomat, Pavel Stroganoff, and the first known mention in a cookbook is from 1871. Interestingly, that early version had no onion or mushroom in it – it was simply beef cubes in a mustard and bouillon sauce finished with sour cream. That dish sounds tasty, but I believe the onions and mushrooms enhance the flavors. So, you can see this dish is already morphing into something a bit different from the original dish. But hey, isn’t that what makes cooking so unique and interesting? Now let’s dive into this much…
I think it is time I post the down and dirty rice recipe that I teased everyone with last November in a picture post. When doing this dish for one, I skip using chicken livers because I will never use the remainder. I know, I hear the catcalls and boos from the readers informing me quite forcefully that this is not dirty rice. Maybe so… but I just cannot bring myself to waste the leftover chicken livers, so it is an impasse. Regardless of the name, this dish is quick to prepare and super delicious with the Creole/Cajun flavors shining through from the ‘Trinity’ to the Creole Seasoning from Tony Chachere. In this dish, I am using precooked rice like I recently saw Chef…
I just had to try this dish! It is based on a recipe from Suzy’s The Mediterranean Dish blog, which always contains amazing recipes and information. In doing some research, this dish is popular in Middle Eastern cuisine and was first noted in a cookbook from 1226! It comes in various forms from a version with meat served at celebrations to this simple dish commonly associated with the poor (attributed to Wikipedia). Regardless of variation or connotation, I loved the simple ingredient list and figured this meal would be a hit like the Koshari I made last year. For my take on this dish, I decided to prepare it sous vide since I recently cooked rice and lentils successfully this way. The results? Well, this simple…
Tonight’s dish is another demonstration on how cooking sous vide makes meal preparation easier and basically foolproof. Have you ever overcooked a fillet of fish in a pan? I bet you have and I know I have. Heck, I bet that anyone who has ever cooked fish has overcooked it at least once. Well, sous vide helps you by cooking it gently in a vacuum bag within a water bath – always done and never overcooked. After the water bath soak, the easiest and most fun part is all that is left – searing to add a little color before plating. But if you thought the mahi mahi is the star of this dish, you would be incorrect. The star of this dish is the sauce…