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!
Category: Recipes
Grilled Chicken Bulgogi-Style with Scallion Salad
We found this recipe in a magazine we picked up a few years ago called “Sizzle with America’s Top Chefs,” which features recipes from chefs including Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen and Wolfgang Puck, among others. The magazine also has a section with recipes from The Culinary Institute of America. This chicken dish is one of The CIA’s creations. We enjoyed it, although it tasted very similar to our Korean Chicken, which involves less ingredients and steps. So we prefer our recipe during a busy week, but The CIA’s version is a good alternative when we want the extra layer of grill flavor. We’ll make the scallion salad recipe again for sure — the spicy, sesame flavors combined with the onion-y scallions to provide a nice kick to the chicken that would also work well in other Asian dishes. Continue reading “Grilled Chicken Bulgogi-Style with Scallion Salad”
Potato Skins
As you may be aware, one of us here at Foodie Lawyer is a big fan of football generally and the Pittsburgh Steelers in particular. We even got to see the Steelers play in the Super Bowl last year (note that I said “play,” and not “win.”) For this football season, we thought it would be fun to try out various “football foods” — dishes that are typically served at sports bars — but cook them ourselves at home, hopefully making them slightly more healthy yet just as tasty. Our first endeavor turned out really good, so we decided to tackle (get it?) potato skins next — typically one of the more unhealthy fried favorite sports bar foods. (Fun Fact: according to Wikipedia, the potato skins appetizer was created by T.G.I. Friday’s in 1963.) We baked ours instead of frying them and they turned out great. Not quite as crispy as the restaurant version, but crispy enough with a thin layer of creamy potato. These would be fun to serve at a football-watching party, with various toppings and dipping sauces to create your very own Potato Skins Bar.
Steamed Crab Legs
We’ve been to seafood-boil types of events before — my brother has an awesome crawfish boil almost every spring — but had never previously attempted this cooking technique at home. When we discovered king crab legs on super sale at our local grocery store, we decided to give it a shot. The resulting steamed crab meat was perfectly cooked with a hint of spice and unmistakable Old Bay seasoning, evocative of a day at the beach and seafood fresh from the ocean.
Black Beans Surprise
The surprising part of this side dish is how amazing it tastes, especially considering how simple it is to make. Whenever we cook Tex-Mex at home, we struggle a bit with what kind of side dish to serve. This rice is a good one, but it’s a bit complicated and takes a little longer to cook. Same with this salad. Sliced avocado with chips and salsa is an easy favorite, but it gets a little old if we serve it every time. (Although, I love avocado so much that I could eat it every day.) Beans are a staple at most Tex-Mex restaurants, where they are served in a variety of ways: regular beans refried, black beans refried and borracho beans — just to name a few. We like black beans, but had never previously served them solo as a side dish at home. So we researched some recipes online and decided to experiment with our own version, incorporating Tex-Mex ingredients we know and like from other dishes (onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, Cotija cheese and cilantro.) We figured the result would be a pretty basic black bean side dish, but were pleasantly surprised by the rich and complex layers of flavor in the finished product. Move over avocado, there’s a new favorite Tex-Mex sidekick in town. . .
Update: We made these the other night and just happened to have a jalapeno and a couple slices of leftover (cooked) bacon. We sauteed the jalapeno with the onion and crumbled the bacon and added it when we put in the beans. The spice from the jalapeno and the bacon flavor made these beans taste even better!
Turkey Meatloaf
I’ve never been much of a fan of meat in loaf form — it’s a texture thing. But Dan knows me and my palate quirks well and created a meatloaf that I actually really like. He took the standard turkey meatloaf ingredients — ground turkey, milk, bread crumbs, egg and ketchup — and added cheese and Rotel tomatoes to turn bland and boring turkey meatloaf into something much more appetizing and special. The little pockets of melted cheese break up the texture and the Rotel adds a little spice and Tex-Mex flavor. This is not your typical turkey meatloaf, but it still has the comfort food aspect and is as easy to prepare as the more basic variety.
Black Olive-Cucumber Salad
We discovered this salad when we found the barbecued swordfish recipe in Mario Batali’s cookbook, “Simple Italian Food.” While both recipes are indeed simple, with flavors that complement each other nicely, we decided to post them separately since they are both delicious on their own as well. The ingredients for the salad include cucumber, black olives, tomatoes and fresh oregano. The salad dressing ingredients include olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, chives and salt & pepper. (The extra ingredients pictured here are for the barbecue sauce for the swordfish.) If you like olives and cucumbers at all, you’ll love this salad. It’s a great side dish, but might also be good all on its own — add a little leftover grilled shrimp and some feta cheese and you’ve got a meal.
Barbecued Swordfish
One of the biggest challenges in our menu planning is trying to find fish dishes that Dan and I both enjoy. He’ll eat just about any type of fish, prepared in a variety of ways, but I’m picky about fish and usually only like it if it doesn’t taste like fish and has some sort of sauce or salsa to distract me from the fact that it is fish. (I’m easy like that.) We also try to make sure the sauce or other fish disguisers aren’t so unhealthy as to cancel out the health benefits of eating fish in the first place. We found this swordfish recipe in one of Mario Batali’s cookbooks and liked the flavor of the (relatively) simple barbecue sauce that complemented but didn’t overpower the swordfish. An added bonus is that Chef Batali included a recipe for a delicious olive and cucumber salad to accompany the fish and further mask any “too fishy” flavor. The salad was really good as a side dish (post coming soon!), but not necessary as a topping because the swordfish wasn’t fishy at all and had a subtle savory flavor from the barbecue sauce.
Green Rice Pilaf
If you live somewhere that did NOT have record high temperatures all summer and, as a result, the herbs in your garden thrived instead of died, then this is a great use of your end-of-summer herb bounty. The rest of us can get our herbs from the grocery store. We saw Mark Bittman, New York Times columnist and cookbook author, prepare this dish on the Today Show, and we were intrigued enough to try it ourselves at home. According to Bittman, there are a lot of herbs that you can use by the handful — similar to green, leafy vegetables. The handfuls of herbs in this rice dish include parsley, cilantro, chives and mint, accompanied by ingredients including basmati rice, grapeseed oil, onion, garlic, chicken stock (or broth) and lemon zest. This combination resulted in a unique, fresh and flavorful take on rice pilaf that we enjoyed very much. Continue reading “Green Rice Pilaf”
Lasagne
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!