Someone recently asked us what we do for fun, and we mentioned this little food blog of ours.  She then asked what kind of food we blog about, and we weren’t quite sure how to respond.  “Um, all kinds?”  Basically, we blog about the food that we like and cook (or attempt to cook), which includes many different types of cuisine.  We particularly enjoy cooking (and eating) Tex-Mex at home, partly because it is easily adaptable — depending on personal preferences and ingredient availability — yet incorporating just a few key elements still gives you that unmistakable Tex-Mex flavor.  This soup is the perfect example of a Tex-Mex dish for which there are numerous different recipes and variations, but the rich and slightly spicy tomato/chile broth and thin, short noodles are the signature elements that define this soup and make it one of our newest comfort food favorites.  We found the recipe in a cookbook by fellow food blogger, Homesick Texan, and adapted it by adding ground turkey to make it slightly more hearty as a main course.  The original recipe provides an excellent template for the base of the soup, which you can then embellish however you see fit.  We may try adding shredded chicken (rather than ground turkey or beef) the next time we have chicken leftovers.  The possibilities are endless.

Continue reading “Sopa de Fideo”

This is one of those posts where I should have made sure I had some leftovers to eat, because by the time I finish editing the photos and writing the post and recipe, I know I will be craving this dish in a major way.  It’s seriously that good.  By far the best bolognese we’ve ever had — in a restaurant or otherwise — if we do say so ourselves (and we do.)  There isn’t enough hyperbole in our collective vocabulary to adequately describe how much we love this dish.  Although this is not a quick recipe (which is why we call it “Sunday” bolognese), the extra time and multiple steps are well worth the resulting complex layers of flavor.  Make some this weekend — you won’t be disappointed!

Continue reading “Sunday Bolognese”

Lasagne is one of Dan’s specialty dishes and one of the ultimate comfort foods.  With its multiple rich layers of three kinds of cheese, pasta and meaty sauce, lasagne is not the most healthy of our recipes, so we don’t make it for ourselves all that often.  But it’s our go-to meal to make for friends and family in need of a little comfort food or to celebrate special occasions.  While not particularly complicated, the recipe takes a fair amount of time and effort to prepare — which makes it even more meaningful and satisfying when you’re cooking this dish for loved ones or someone deserving of a special meal.  But, lest you think we are completely selfless with 100% pure motivation, this recipe also lends itself very well to incorporating enough extra ingredients to make a small batch for yourself when you’re preparing one for someone else.  Win, win!

Continue reading “Lasagne”

We’re always looking for new sources of recipes for easy but delicious weeknight meals.  On a recent trip to the grocery store, we found a magazine titled “30-Minute Suppers” by Cook’s Illustrated.  The source is an old favorite, but the magazine itself is new (and should still be available in stores until October, if you’re interested.)  Cook’s Illustrated’s cookbook “The Best 30-Minute Recipe” is one of our most-used books, so we figured the magazine would have lots of recipes we would enjoy as well.  So far, we have tried two recipes from the magazine and were happy with the resulting meals that tasted like they took a lot of effort, but were on the table in just half an hour.  We liked the combination of flavors and textures in this tortellini dish very much:  cheesy tortellini, peppery arugula, sweet and slightly chewy sun-dried tomatoes, crispy prosciutto, bright lemon and rich olive oil.  The only thing we would change is to create more of a sauce for the finished dish.  Next time we make it we’ll see if we can tweak the recipe a bit and post an update here.

Continue reading “Tortellini with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Prosciutto”

This is our second attempt at this pasta dish, which was originally inspired by the Rigatoni Alla Carbonara we had at Tra Vigne on our trip to Napa earlier this summer.  The pasta at Tra Vigne was one of the best meals of the trip, and we were excited to try to recreate it at home.  According to Tra Vigne’s menu, their rigatoni includes guanciale bacon, onion, eggs, cracked pepper and Parmesan.  Sounds easy enough.  So we made a special trip to Central Market to get the guanciale (Italian bacon made from the pig’s jowls or cheeks), researched some recipes and whipped up our first batch of Pasta alla Carbonara.  We used all the same carbonara ingredients as Tra Vigne and expected ours to taste at least similar to theirs, even if it didn’t turn out quite as delicious.  But ours wasn’t even close.  While the pasta at Tra Vigne had a rich and hearty bacon flavor, ours had a slightly gamey taste unlike any bacon we’ve had.  Carbonara Fail.  Since at first we did not succeed, we tried again — this time using pancetta instead of guanciale, and the result was much more successful.  Still not as good as the rigatoni at Tra Vigne, but our second batch was way better than the first — rich and creamy with nice bacon flavor. Continue reading “Pasta alla Carbonara”

Ina Garten does it again.  Hers might be the most-used cookbooks we own — just about all of them have multiple pages tagged with recipes we have tried and enjoyed.  And her books are the ones I often go to when I feel like we’re in a cooking rut, which is how I found her recipe for mushroom lasagne.  Traditional lasagne with red sauce, italian sausage and ricotta cheese is one of Dan’s specialties, and we have it all the time.  So I thought it would be interesting to try a completely different lasagne — with mushrooms instead of meat and cream sauce instead of tomato.  The result is somehow rich yet light at the same time, hearty and delicious.

Continue reading “Mushroom Lasagne”

Everyone has their own version (maybe even more than one) of comfort food.  A dish that makes you feel better when you’re sick, lifts your spirits, or helps to soothe a hurting heart.  It could be anything from your favorite meal that your mom used to make, to an inherited family recipe for chicken soup — the key is that just tasting it warms your soul.  As self-described foodies, food is obviously important to us, and we often look to food as a form of therapy.  Dan says that chopping ingredients and cooking a meal can be very relaxing for him.  (Quite the opposite for me, hello stress! — but luckily he is the chef and I am the taster.)  No matter what, sharing a meal together at the end of the day is our way to connect and decompress.  (But let’s not get crazy about the togetherness — we still watch TV while we eat.)  We recently found this recipe by Michael Ruhlman and love it for its cheesy, beefy, comforting pasta goodness.

Continue reading “Mac-N-Cheese with Beef (Johnny Marzetti)”

A fettuccine alfredo recipe that is low(er) in fat and calories than the traditional version?  Yes, please!  We found one in Cook’s Illustrated’s book, “The Best Light Recipe.”  As with all their recipes, the folks at Cook’s Illustrated do all the hard work for you — testing out tons of different ingredients and techniques until they find the very best possible recipe (hence the name.)  Another great feature in this particular cookbook is that the authors show the difference in nutritional stats between the light recipe and the traditional version, and they explain how they achieved the lighter result.  For example, classic fettuccine alfredo has about 580 calories and 43 grams of fat, while the light recipe has only 300 calories and 11 grams of fat.  The key to the light version is using half-and-half thickened with cornstarch instead of heavy cream, and they omitted all the butter.  Even with less calories and fat, this recipe still has the rich and creamy taste of the traditional version.

Continue reading “Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (with leftover chicken)”

I always consider it a personal triumph when I find a vegetarian recipe that Dan really enjoys.  I scored big with this eggplant pasta.  We both loved it, and we have officially added it to our recipe rotation.  No offense to anyone who is vegetarian or adores vegetables, but I think the reason we liked this so much is that it doesn’t taste like vegetables.  The eggplant is substantial and gives the pasta an almost meaty flavor.  This pasta is a good one to try if you want to work more vegetarian meals into your routine but aren’t a big fan of veggies.  Baby steps! Continue reading “Pasta alla Norma”