Are you ready for Monday Night Dinner?

I know… a chicken dinner can be boring. Or bland. Or both.  Let me show you one way to simply reinvigorate this dinner staple. Pan Seared Chicken Breast on Cheesy Browned Butter Farfalle with Sauteed Balsamic Brussel Sprouts Ingredients: 1 boneless and skinless chicken breast Drizzle of olive oil 1 1/2 cups brussel sprouts, cleaned and halved 1 cup of farfalle pasta 4 cups of water 1 1/2 tbsp Rosemary Garlic Seasoning 1/2 cup shredded 3 cheese mix (Asiago, Parmesan, Romano) 4 tsp olive oil, divided 4 tsp butter, divided 4 tbsp…

Say what? Sunday Sous-vide Sirloin Steak!

OK, I know many do not know what the sous-vide method of cooking is (or do not understand or trust it) and it can seem scary… but only if you don’t follow good practices. Basically, sous-vide is cooking foods placed in a vacuum in a water bath that is kept at a stable temperature. And those are the keys… the vacuum and stable temperature. Now you may be thinking, I want a crust or grill marks on my steak… not just a hunk of pink or gray meat on…

It’s Saturday, I bet there are some leftovers I could use…

Back in the What? Prepare a weekly menu! Are you crazy? post, I mentioned using pulled pork and kimchi leftovers for a pork kimchi fried rice. For those of you that have been waiting (or wondering if I would make that dish!), your wait is over. Today I made this recipe for lunch – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Pulled Pork and Kimchi Fried Rice 1 1/2 cups of pulled pork, cut as desired 1 cup of kimchi, cut (using scissors in a glass bowl to save your cutting boards…

How about margarita fajitas?

Tonight’s dinner is simple and fast – and has a little bit of kick from cooking with tequila and lime! Margarita Fajitas Ingredients: 6 oz thin sliced beef, cut into strips 1/2 onion, sliced radially 1/2 green pepper, sliced lengthwise 1 stalk celery, sliced (and/or 1 carrot julienned, sliced mushrooms, quartered broccoli flowerets, etc) 1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced 1 lime, zested and juiced 1 tbsp chili powder 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp dried cilantro 1 – 2 oz silver tequila 3 – 4 flour tortillas 2 tsp vegetable…

Cheater, cheater… pizza eater!

Ok, for tonight’s dinner I cheated… a little. I had a hankering for pizza, but did not want to make one from scratch. Ordering in or going out was an option, but I wanted to share this little trick with everyone instead.  (By the way, I promise to visit my favorite place with pizza soon, I swear!) Rather than get the delivery version of the pizza you want – why not start with the basics and build your own!  That’s right… I used a take and bake basic pizza (Papa…

A twist on a favorite… paella on the grill

With the summer weather continuing here (which is awesome!), I again decided to cook using the grill.  Tonight is an experiment – paella on the grill.  It is an experiment for 2 reasons. First time for me for using the grill to cook paella, obviously. But second, I am using a new seasoning – ‘Paellero’. I will comment on the flavor after trying the results! Simple paella Ingredients: 3/4 cup of pearl rice (or arborio if pearl is not available) 3 oz of chorizo, linguiça, or andouille sausage 5 -6 extra large…

Pulled pork and savory sriracha slaw

  Well, I started the pulled pork with brining in yesterday’s post. Today, I am going to hot smoke it on my barbecue grill. Preparation: First, remove the pork shoulder from the brine, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Place the meat in a medium bowl and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with more Smoky Mesquite seasoning and fresh cracked black pepper on all sides. Prepare the smoker with chips, the grate and light the grill and leave on high. When the grill and smoker box are hot, place the meat on…