Sunday, May 6, 2012
Chicken Marsala is a delicious, easy to make at home dish. A little chicken, a few mushrooms, some wine...piece of cake.
"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~Luciano Pavarotti One of my favorite Italian dishes is Chicken Marsala. For some reason though, nine out of ten times I end up ordering something else when I go out. The same scene plays out every time; I whittle my choices down to the Marsala and one other dish and that other dish always wins out. Because of this, I tend to make Chicken Marsala quite a bit at home. Don't let the fancy pants name deter you from trying your hand at it...the dish is quick enough to whip up on a weeknight, yet elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. It is also easy to change up. Add some cream to the sauce or throw …
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Give this creamy tomato sauce a whirl on your next pasta night.
"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti." ~Sophia Loren I was tired of the same spaghetti and meatballs dinner last week so I searched around for a new pasta recipe to try. I wanted it to be pretty basic and easy to make and still be based around tomatoes. After weeding through dozens of pasta salad recipes and about a million spaghetti and meatballs recipes, I came across one that sounded pretty darn interesting. It called for a bit of spice, a bit of sweetness and a bunch of cream. I was sold. I've never met a cream sauce I didn't like. We were pretty happy with the outcome and it'll now get thrown into the dinner rotation. If you prefer a spicier sauce use hot sausages and more red pepper flakes. Or you can leave the hot flakes out …
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Looking for an interesting appetizer to bring to a party? Look no further! Try making these easy delicious egg rolls.
“It may be the way the cookie crumbles on Madison Avenue, but in Hong Kong it's the way the egg rolls.” ~Robert Orben Every couple of months a group of girls known as "The BBs" get together to eat, laugh and catch up. I am lucky enough to be a part of this little crew and though I love to get together I always find myself a bit stressed as to what to bring. I consider myself to be a decent cook but for some reason I always bring food to the BB conventions that is pretty lame. To the first gathering I brought a brie-phyllo dough debacle. It turned out sort of Hot Pocket-esque (meaning it was hot on the outside and freezing in the middle). Ugh. To the second gathering I brought a dip that was just plain boring. For the rest of our get …
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Here is a super easy slow cooker recipe for chicken chili.
"Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili." ~Harry James Most of my co-workers bring their lunches from home. This often results in amazing smells wafting into my office from the kitchen. Those smells then make my stomach growl and typically cause me to curse the boring salad I brought with me. One afternoon, the scent emanating from the microwave was so good that people were actually wandering in from the hallway asking what it was. The gentleman who brought it in let us know that it was white chicken chili. He then retreated to his office with the dish and shut his door, most likely fearful one of us would steal it. Instead, I asked for the recipe. I couldn't wait …
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Looking for an easy and inexpensive side dish? Try making these crispy potato wedges.
"What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow." ~A.A. Milne For the past couple of weeks the supermarket has offered a 5 lb. bag of potatoes free with the purchase of a roast. Since I was planning on buying a roast anyway (and I am not one to turn down a deal), I put the potatoes in my carriage and happily went on my way. Then when I got home and saw last week's 5 lb. bag I realized that I had better figure out a new way to cook these spuds (besides my usual mashed and baked). Ten pounds of potatoes is a lot of potatoes. If you have read my column before then you know that there is one particular word to describe what I look for in a recipe: Easy. This recipe definitely fits into that …
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Modernize the traditional pork chop and applesauce dinner. Try this pineapple salsa instead.
"There is poetry in a pork chop to a hungry man." ~Philip Gibbs Pork chops are a favorite in my house and are usually in my weekly dinner rotation. Coming up with new ways to make them is what trips me up though. Stuff and bake them, marinate and grill them, season and saute them...my boys may not get bored but I certainly do. I found the cure for pork chop monotony earlier this week in the form of a fresh pineapple salsa. It's not the fastest dish to make but it sure is tasty. It is also versatile. You can top chicken breasts with it as well as pork chops or scoop it up with tortilla chips as a refreshing appetizer. One serving of the salsa (this recipe makes four) provides 28 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber and only 3 grams of …
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Have some leftover corned beef from your St. Patrick's Day dinner? Try using some of it in this delicious and easy to make Reuben sandwich.
Laughter is brightest where food is best. ~ Irish Proverb Did you know that the traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage is not an Irish tradition but an American one? Though in Ireland they may eat it once in awhile, they pretty much serve it for the tourists who are visiting on March 17th. Go figure. Boiled Dinner wasn't a once-a-year meal growing up in my house, since it was in the Sunday Dinner rotation. It was definitely not my favorite. Then later in life I ate a corned beef dinner at a friend's house and I loved it. I couldn't figure out what my mother had done wrong all of those years. Turns out she always made her boiled dinner with a smoked shoulder. Mystery solved. (I hate ham.) Boiled dinner is great but …
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Looking for a meatless meal idea? Try making these divine veggie burgers.
"If you knew how meat was made, you'd probably lose your lunch." ~k.d. lang Something you may have seen all over the news last week was the subject of “pink slime." Jamie Oliver covered this subject on his show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" last year and now there is a petition to try to stop the USDA from buying pink slime and using it in school lunches. What is pink slime? According to the petition, pink slime “is a beef-like product created by grinding together connective tissue and beef scraps normally used in dog food, and treated with ammonia hydroxide to kill salmonella and E. coli.” Ugh. This slime controversy got me to thinking about how much meat my family consumes and how much that meat costs. Meat is the basis for most all …
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Love 'em or hate 'em, leftovers are inevitable. Here are a few ideas to turn the week's leftovers into tasty new dishes.
The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. ~Calvin Trillin Leftovers. Most people either love them or loathe them. Luckily, this leftover lover has a partner who enjoys them too. I believe that many dishes just taste better when the flavors are left to meld overnight; like most any kind of soup or stew, spaghetti sauce and pot pies, to name just a few. Of course it has to be noted that the microwave has completely destroyed many a fine leftover meal. When time allows I prefer to reheat in or on the stove. In a previous column I wrote about uses for leftover chicken: broth, pot pies, chicken salad, soup and even dog food (chicken …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The list of ingredients in this Hot and Sour Soup may seem extensive, but the end result makes it all worthwhile.
Good manners: The noise you don't make when you're eating soup. ~Bennett Cerf Recently a coworker of mine was heating up his lunch in the microwave and the smell was so amazing that I had to walk over and investigate. Dan told me that he and his wife had made hot and sour soup the previous weekend. This was what was making my mouth water. A few days later my husband and I were shopping and I came upon a magazine dedicated to one pot recipes. I flipped through it and came upon a recipe for hot and sour soup. It had to be a sign! I needed to make this soup...and buy this magazine. My husband commented that I could justify just about any purchase. I suppose he has a point. But still...how could I ignore such an obvious sign? Anyway, I did …
DBC
11:33 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012
For those who just don't have enough extra time to make these or maybe would like a good alternative for a quick meal, the best veggie burger I have ever found is put out by Meredith Farms. It is frozen like the others, i.e., Boca, Morning Star, Gardenburger, but these are fantastic! There is a Vegan veggie burger but there is also several other versions that would be suitable for less stringent … more ›