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Category: Recipes
Here’s to another Friday… and another cocktail. Perhaps this one is a bit out of season here in winter, but I find it worth sharing. Finding a cocktail that uses calvados was a treat. Just in case you don’t know, calvados is an apple brandy from Normandy. It is delicious… oh and dangerous (at least to me!) So with the end of another work week, let’s start the weekend by enjoying our new Friday night tipple – the apple sour! Save Print Apple Sour Prep time: 5 mins Total time: 5 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 2 parts calvados 1 part lemon juice ½ part maple syrup maraschino cherry (optional) Instructions Chill a highball glass with ice…
Tonight we are going Cajun with some Jambalaya! You may be thinking”What? How do you do that for one person? And doesn’t it take a lot of work?” Well, the answer is… jambalaya is a simple dish to prepare and of course you can make it for one person. Let me show you how I do it! Save Print Prawn and Sausage Jambalaya Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 50 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 1 andouille sausage, sliced 6 – 8 large prawns, peeled and deveined ½ green pepper, diced (approximately ½ cup) 1 stalk celery, diced (approximately ½ cup) ½ onion, diced (approximately ½ cup) 1 tomato, diced (approximately ½ cup) 2 cloves…
Let’s start the week with everyone’s favorite Chinese soup – wonton soup. I am going to prepare this soup using my new Uno sous vide device from Creative Cuisine by Grant. This nifty device allows you to use an analog rice cooker or crock pot as the water bath while it controls the temperature for you. In talking with Bob Lamson of Creative Cuisine about sous vide cooking and how their device changes the paradigm, he challenged me to to use sous vide precision to prepare a soup. I was intrigued by the concept and of course, I accepted the challenge. So here we have a fairly simple dish that benefits from gentle cooking to meld the flavors of the broth, but needs an…
Today, I want to share a mash-up recipe. If you have been a regular follower, you have seen kielbasa and macaroni and cheese show up a few times. Well, they are easy meals to prepare and are some of the comfort foods that many people like. So, I figure if you are going to cook, you should cook what you like to eat, right? And what better way to satisfy your hunger than by combining two items you like to make a third. This recipe uses the Macaroni and Cheese recipe from earlier this week, adds fried kielbasa and frozen green beans, packs it into a small casserole dish, and bakes it with a panko crust. How easy is that? Just think, with a few quick changes…
It’s Friday again and you know what that means… my weekly cocktail post! Tonight’s featured cocktail is the Sidecar. A simple, yet delicious cocktail that can and has been tweaked through the years. My version is no different, of course. One resource states the standard ‘by the book’ Sidecar is 3 parts cognac or brandy, 2 parts Grand Imperial, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec, and 2 parts lemon juice (freshly squeezed, naturally!). Combine the ingredients with ice, shake, strain and enjoy. So I will stay with those proportions and just change one of the ingredients. My tweak is to use a blend of lemon and orange juice to up the orange factor just a little while letting the brightness of the…
I know, I can hear it now… “What is this ‘More habits’ dish?” Basically, it is red beans and rice. A Caribbean style red beans and rice – in the style from the Dominican Republic (or so I read). This dish was an experiment in trying to scale the dish down to cooking for one, while still keeping the flavor and texture that makes this dish the staple it is. Overall, my effort tasted fine (maybe it needed a bit more salt for the amount I made) and the texture was close (the rice was slightly overcooked). Since it was an experiment and we all know I eat my experiments, I added 8 oz of linguiça – a sausage popular in Portuguese…
Tonight I made one of my standard side dishes – roasted brussel sprouts. It is a recipe so easily upgraded with the addition of a few additional ingredients. One of my favorite ways to make this dish is with bacon or pancetta. The smoky, sweet flavors really combine well with the caramelized sugars in the roasted brussel sprouts. But alas, that is not the recipe I made tonight. I opted to toast some roughly chopped hazelnuts and slivered garlic and tossed it together with some balsamic glaze to bring vibrant flavors to the dish. This side dish is easy and pairs with many main dishes – steak, chicken, fish, etc – which is why I keep variants of this dish in regular rotation. So without further ado, let…
Here is another comfort food recipe for everyone to enjoy. It has been a long time since I made Sloppy Joes and I cannot even come up with a good reason why. Since these are easy to make and delicious to eat, they should be enjoyed more often. I will have to put this meal into the rotation – they deserve a spot, don’t you think? Save Print Sloppy Joes Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 50 mins Serves: 2 Ingredients 8 oz lean ground beef 1 tbsp canola oil ½ onion, diced 1 carrot, diced ½ red or green pepper, diced 1 stalk celery, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 6 – 8 small crimini mushrooms, sliced 2…
Ahhh, the joys of comfort food. There is something about homemade macaroni and cheese that is so satisfying and it is so easy to make. This recipe will show you how to make a delicious macaroni and cheese in about the time it takes to boil the pasta. So pick up some tasty cheeses and let’s get busy making one of the classic comfort foods! Save Print Macaroni and Cheese Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 20 mins Serves: 2 Ingredients 6 oz shell or elbow pasta 2 oz bacon, sliced (optional) 1½ oz gruyere cheese, cubed or shredded 1 oz gouda cheese, cubed or shredded 1½ oz fontina cheese, cubed or shredded 1 oz…
Tonight’s cocktail is a very interesting one – and not one I would have ever really considered – but wow, is it tasty! A strange mix of ingredients (well, what I believe to be strange) really makes this cocktail shine in flavor and looks. Let’s get to enjoying this Friday evening with a wonderfully crafted tipple – the honey hued Alfonso Special! Save Print Alfonso Special Prep time: 5 mins Total time: 5 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients 1½ oz Gran Imperial (or Grand Marnier) ¾ oz dry gin ¾ oz dry vermouth 2 tsp sweet vermouth dash or two of angostura bitters Instructions Combine the ingredients with ice and swirl to chill the cocktail well. Strain into a cocktail…