Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Posted By under Main Courses, Main Ingredient, Recipes, Vegetable

Here’s a soup would be perfect for your next dinner party, or any occasion when you want to impress someone with an elegantly savory dish.  As exquisite as this soup tastes, it is remarkably easy to prepare with just a few ingredients:  butter, garlic, red onion, flour, a jar of roasted red peppers, a chipotle chile, fresh thyme, chicken broth, heavy cream and white bread for homemade croutons.  Given the simplicity of the ingredients and the fact that the recipe comes from a book of “quick-from-scratch” meals prepared in less than 60 minutes, we were shocked by the complex, layered and delicious flavors.  This is restaurant-quality soup:  something you might expect from a quaint, yet still fancy, little French bistro.  In France.

Continue reading “Roasted Red Pepper Soup”

Cooking Class at Sur La Table

Posted By under Reviews

On a whim one Friday a couple of weeks ago, we signed up for a cooking class at Sur La Table called “Date Night:  Springtime in Paris.”  We had never taken a cooking class together before, but we like Springtime and love Paris, so we figured it would be a fun date.  And it was indeed.  The chef teaching the class guided us through the preparation of a fancy four-course meal —  frisee salad with roquefort and toasted walnuts; green peppercorn steak with a mushroom-cognac pan sauce; roasted potatoes with spring herbs; and a strawberry and rhubarb tart — all of which was delicious.  Much of the prep work was done ahead of time and the cooking was done in a group style, so it really didn’t seem like that much work (which is my ideal kind of cooking.)  We learned a few things and really enjoyed the experience of doing something different than our usual dinner-and-a-movie date night.

Continue reading “Cooking Class at Sur La Table”

Chicken Parmesan

Posted By under Main Courses, Main Ingredient, Poultry, Recipes

“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.

Continue reading “Chicken Parmesan”

Greek-Style Roasted Red Potatoes

Posted By under Main Ingredient, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetable

Apparently, once we have some success with a particular cuisine or style of cooking, we make a lot of recipes in that same style.  Variety may be the spice of life, but Greek flavors seem to be the singular focus of our kitchen and blog these days.  (Tabouli recipe coming soon!)  We had some red potatoes on hand and needed a side to go with this Greek shrimp dish, so we did a search for “red potato” on the Epicurious site, then narrowed the results by clicking the “meal/course” and “side” categories and found this recipe, which we adapted by roasting the potatoes instead of just boiling them.  The resulting recipe is similar to our regular roasted potatoes, but kicked up with Greek ingredients including kalamata olives, feta cheese and fresh mint.  Combining these items with potatoes might seem odd, but all the flavors came together well in a fresh, slightly salty and tangy side dish that complemented the tomato sauce of the shrimp main dish very well.

Continue reading “Greek-Style Roasted Red Potatoes”

Greek-Spiced Baked Shrimp

Posted By under Main Courses, Main Ingredient, Recipes, Seafood

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.

Continue reading “Greek-Spiced Baked Shrimp”

Slow-Cooker Posole

Posted By under Main Courses, Main Ingredient, Pork, Recipes

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.

Continue reading “Slow-Cooker Posole”