“Hyperbole” is defined as “obvious and intentional exaggeration; an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally.” As self-proclaimed foodies, we tend to enthusiastically gush about favorite foods, recipes and meals (no, really, we do.) And we have MANY favorites. Possibly so many favorites as to cheapen the meaning of the word “favorite.” But, all enthusiasm aside, it takes quite a lot for us to decree a particular recipe or meal to be The Best — a title we generally reserve for a recipe or dish that absolutely transcends all other versions we’ve ever tried. Friends, we are happy to present — without even a hint of hyperbole — The Best Chicken Parmesan you will ever eat. Period. The End.
Category: Main Courses
Greek-Spiced Baked Shrimp
We recently discovered how simple it can be to cook Greek food at home, and we’re always looking for good new recipes using shrimp. Not only is this Greek recipe easy, but it’s also a delicious and healthy way to cook one of our favorite crustaceans. The ingredients are items we usually have on hand: shrimp, an onion, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, a can of whole tomatoes and feta cheese. If you like Greek flavors with a hint of spice, and you like shrimp and tomatoes, you will enjoy this savory dish.
Slow-Cooker Posole
As much as we like to use our slow-cooker for hearty, comfort-food meals when it’s cold out, we’re also making an effort to use it more often this spring and summer for lighter fare. Posole (pronounced “po-SO-lay”) is a brothy stew that seems more light than traditional beef stew, possibly due to the mild flavor of the hominy that serves as the base of the soup. But far from bland or boring, posole has layers of spicy and savory flavor from the hominy, chicken broth, browned pork, mirepoix (combo of onion, celery and carrot), green chiles, soy sauce, garlic and spices. This stew can be further dressed up with tons of garnish options: shredded lettuce or cabbage, sliced radishes, chopped green onions, diced avocado, pumpkin seeds, salsa, lime, cilantro, etc., etc. There are almost as many different recipe options for posole as garnishes — we adapted ours from a recipe in this book, one of our favorite sources for slow-cooker ideas. This was the first time we had ever made (or eaten) posole and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed it. Although posole is often served during Christmas or New Year’s holidays, we like it as a warm-weather dish, since it’s filling enough to be a full meal, but not so stick-to-your-ribs heavy that you feel like you need a nap after you eat it.
Thai-Style Pork Patties
“Pork patties” may not sound very appetizing, and I’ll admit that I was skeptical about how these would turn out, but this is a Cook’s Illustrated recipe, so we know it was tested extensively by the folks at America’s Test Kitchen until they got it just right. We’re big fans of Cook’s Illustrated and subscribe to them online (great site to find tried & true recipes for dishes you may be cooking for the first time), receive their magazines at home (6 issues per year, packed with interesting cooking tips, info and recipes) and have many of their “best of” books (highly recommend this one for weeknight cooking.) I’m also always on the look-out for any of their special edition magazines, usually available in the grocery store. Their Fall 2011 issue of “30-Minute Suppers” has 64 recipes that are perfect for a weeknight meal, including this pork recipe and several others we have tried and enjoyed. But enough of this non-sponsored free commercial for Cook’s Illustrated — back to the pork patties! We were pleasantly surprised by how delicious they turned out, most likely due to the unique combination of flavors from several Thai-style ingredients: fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, shallot, serrano chile, lemongrass and cilantro — blended together with ground pork, an egg and fresh breadcrumbs that resulted in flavorful patties with the ideal crispy-outside-moist-inside texture. These patties have an unexpectedly sophisticated flavor (makes me want to name them something more refined than “patties”), especially considering how quick and easy they are to prepare in under half an hour.
Cauliflower Steaks with Olive Relish and Tomato Sauce
Here’s the final non-meat dish for this season of Lent, and we saved the best for last. You might be surprised to find that cauliflower can constitute an entire meal (we were), but there is enough going on with this recipe to create a more than satisfying and delicious dinner made up entirely of vegetables. We had heard of roasted cauliflower steak before and were intrigued to try it, but we (mostly me) were a little skeptical about how a slab of cooked cauliflower would actually taste. When I found this recipe incorporating olive relish and tomato sauce, I knew we had a winner — if olives and tomatoes can make fish appetizing (and they can), we were excited to see what they could do for cauliflower. Turns out they add a ton of rich, salty and tangy flavor to transform a roasted vegetable into an elegant meal. An easy weeknight meal with simple ingredients: cauliflower, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, parsley, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, butter, Parmesan cheese, garlic, tomatoes and salt & pepper.
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Pasta Primavera
Here’s another one for vegetarians or anyone avoiding meat on Fridays during Lent. Not being much of a vegetable eater, I wasn’t so sure I would enjoy a dish made with just pasta and veggies. Turns out that with the right sauce and vegetables, I’m a fan. We adapted this pasta primavera recipe by using veggies that we already know we like and beefing up the sauce (so to speak) with tomatoes. We also left out the chicken called for in the original recipe, but adding some leftover cooked chicken if you’ve got it would be a welcome addition of protein. This is an easy and flavorful dish with a creamy tomato sauce that has a hint of spice and complementary textures from the sauteed veggies and cooked pasta. It’s worth a try with whatever veggies you happen to like for a relatively quick and healthy weeknight meal.
Pork Souvlaki
The word “souvlaki” comes from a Greek word meaning “skewer” and refers to meat (usually lamb or pork) grilled on a skewer. Although we’ve never been to Greece (add it to the Life List!), we were inspired by a visit to a Greek food festival to try making this type of cuisine at home. Given our prior success with meat-on-a-stick recipes (pork, beef and more pork), we figured that the Greek version of the kebab would be a good place to start. We used this recipe for a simple, yet flavor-packed marinade made from olive oil, red wine, lemon juice, dried mint, dried oregano, garlic and a bay leaf. We made pork souvlaki because we happened to have pork shoulder in the freezer (most likely leftover from our Charcutepalooza efforts), but the marinade would likely be just as good with lamb or even chicken. Aside from the dried mint, these are all ingredients that we almost always have on hand, but wouldn’t necessarily have thought of combining. Surprisingly, the combination resulted in the unmistakable “Greek” flavors we remember sampling at the festival. Who knew it would be so easy to make Greek food at home? This is one of our favorite things about cooking — the satisfaction that comes from learning a new flavor profile or technique that opens up a whole new realm of recipe possibilities. Opa!
Tomato Orzo Soup w/ Spinach
We love a good soup, especially one that is hearty enough to be a meal all on its own. Bonus points for also being healthy and vegetarian. This soup (adapted from a recipe by Chef Michael Chiarello) not only fits these criteria, but also is delicious and easy to make with simple ingredients you most likely already have on hand: a can of whole tomatoes, olive oil, butter, celery, a carrot, onion, garlic, chicken broth, a bay leaf, orzo pasta and spinach. It’s a great dish for anyone avoiding meat on Fridays during Lent, or anyone who likes soup and is looking for a nutritious, meat-less, meal-in-a-bowl dinner.
Turkey Chipotle Chili
There are probably as many different chili recipes as there are reasons for people’s differing opinions as to whether or not chili should have beans in it. For the record, we do not put beans in our traditional (award-winning!) chili because Texas Chili does not have beans in it. Apparently someone even wrote a song about it: “If You Know Beans About Chili, You Know That Chili Has No Beans.” We make an exception to this rule for white chili, which is a lighter alternative to the red meat version. We’ve made white chili before and enjoyed it, but felt that it lacked the flavor “wow factor” of our beef chili recipe. Enter the chipotle and the tomatillo. The idea of adding these ingredients came from this recipe and took the white chili to a whole new level, flavor-wise. The spicy/smoky chipotle and sweet/tart tomatillo give a much needed boost to the otherwise potentially bland flavor combination of white beans and ground turkey. This is a dish that even a Texas-chili-purist can love, beans and all.
Baked Panko Fish Sticks
Anybody else remember eating fish sticks as a kid? The pre-breaded kind that you buy frozen and re-heat on a cookie sheet in the oven? I feel a strange fondness thinking back about those perfectly formed, mostly tasteless, little breaded logs of mystery fish meat — most likely because they remind me of Friday nights during Lent, which makes me happy for two reasons: Fridays signal the Weekend (favorite time of the week) and Lent signals Spring (favorite season.) Fondness aside, the fish sticks of our childhood didn’t have much going for them in the flavor department. And I’m pretty sure that their exact uniform shapes were not the result of a chef’s precise knife skills preparing the fish for breading, freezing, packaging and shipment. Makes me think of this great commercial, featuring a little girl’s indignation at being fed “minced” fish sticks: “What is this, ‘minced?’ You feed me ‘minced?’ You ever catch a minced fish?!?” We’re pretty sure that Martha Stewart never fed anyone minced fish, so we decided to try her recipe for fish sticks made from tilapia fillets as a modern version of this childhood classic. With just a few ingredients — tilapia, an egg, panko, olive oil and Old Bay seasoning — and an elegant dipping sauce made with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, horseradish, lemon juice and parsley, the fish stick is all grown up.