Baseball Extravaganza

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What started as a birthday present from my parents to Dan one year has become an annual tradition that we look forward to every summer.  My parents are big fans of the Houston Astros and enjoy attending as many games as they can.  Several years ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the Astros in Houston, and my parents gifted their Pennsylvania native son-in-law with tickets for us to join them for 2 games of the weekend series.  We decided to stay at the baseball-themed “Inn at the Ballpark,” located less than a block from the Astros ballpark in downtown Houston.  At the time, staying at a baseball hotel and attending 2 baseball games in the same weekend seemed like a lot of baseball, so we nicknamed the experience the “Baseball Extravaganza.”  We had such a good time that weekend that a tradition was born.  Our baseball weekend has become a rite of summer for us — usually falling on Labor Day weekend and always including a wonderful stay at the Inn.

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Horseradish-Maple Glazed Pork Chops

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

We often use leftover pork for a second meal during the week, including such dishes as stir-fried pork, banh mi sandwiches and moo shoo pork.  Sometimes I prefer pork as a leftover because so many of these dishes have a sauce or other components to liven up the pork, which otherwise can be a little bland.  These chops are anything but bland, yet not too flavor-specific that they can’t be turned into a totally different second meal (we used our leftover chops in fried rice.)  I found the recipe in one of Bobby Flay’s cookbooks, “Boy Meets Grill.”  Chef Flay writes, “think about these three flavors going together — grilled pork chops, pungent horseradish, and sweet maple syrup — it makes sense.”  We initially thought that pairing horseradish with syrup actually does not make sense, but we are not accomplished chefs, nor Food Network stars.  So we took Bobby’s word for it and were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the sweet, yet spicy flavor.

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Chicken Stew with Green Olives

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

Now that it’s September, cooler weather is FINALLY on the way, and we could not be happier.  It’s been a brutal summer here, but we have been blessed with glorious temperatures in the low 80s for the last couple of days and we are excited for fall.  In addition to a break from the hot weather, fall means cooking more of our favorite soups, chili and other comfort-food dishes.  This stew, adapted from a recipe in Glamour magazine, is a great dish for the transition from summer to fall.  The olives and basil give it a bright, summery flavor, while the broth and tomatoes provide richness.  It’s also really easy to make with simple ingredients:  chicken, leeks, olive oil, garlic, white wine, tomatoes, chicken stock, green olives and basil.

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Pork Fried Rice (with leftover pork)

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

As promised, here is another of our favorite uses of leftover pork, Asian style.  We adapted the recipe from “The Best 30-Minute Recipe” cookbook (which we can’t recommend highly enough), but the dish is pretty flexible in terms of both ingredients and sauce.  This version is what we prefer, but you can always put your own spin on it, which is one of the many reasons we like this recipe.  We also appreciate that it’s a quick, easy and delicious use of leftovers.

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Pasta alla Carbonara

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

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”

London Broil

Posted By under Main Courses, Main Ingredient, Recipes, Red Meat

For some people, including Dan, cooking a meal for someone can be a way to show love and affection, celebrate an achievement, or commemorate an important occasion.  For the Conrad family and many others, August 29 is a signifigant date that does not go unnoticed.  Three years ago today, Dan’s dad Tom passed away after a too-brief but valiant battle against a brain tumor.  It is a date upon which we struggle against the sadness and missing by instead focusing on the happy memories, joyful times and favorite moments.  One of Tom’s greatest joys was food — in a simple, meat & potatoes way, nothing too unusual or exotic.  Dan loves cooking for family and does so just about every time he goes home to Altoona.  During one visit years ago, as Dan was cooking dinner, his dad came in the kitchen to watch and keep Dan company.  While observing, Tom cautioned “not too spicy!” just as Dan was seasoning the chicken soup — with salt and pepper.  Although he didn’t have the most adventurous palate, Tom would have eaten just about anything Dan cooked and would have raved about it — such was Tom’s way of showing unwavering support to those he loved, no matter their endeavor.  One of Tom’s true favorite meals that Dan cooks is London Broil, which involves a simple marinade used to spice up (but not too much!) an inexpensive cut of beef and turn it into something special.  And it’s our way to claim this day and honor a great man who enjoyed nothing more than a delicious steak dinner.  Except maybe a turkey dinner.  Or dinner at Lena’s.  Or a sleeve of Oreo cookies… Continue reading “London Broil”

Banh Mi Sandwiches (with leftover pork)

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

Pork is a versatile protein when it comes to leftovers, especially in Asian dishes.  We have used leftover pork for stir fry, moo-shoo pork, and pork fried rice (post coming soon!), just to name a few.  This sandwich recipe is yet another good use of leftover pork, with an Asian flair.  I was inspired to try making Banh Mi sandwiches at home after having one from a little soup & sandwich shop in Brooklyn while visiting Dan’s brother, his lovely wife and adorable son earlier this year.  Although not authentically Vietnamese, the sandwich was delicious and didn’t seem like it would be all that difficult to make, especially using pork that had already been cooked.  There are a lot of Banh Mi recipes out there, but it seems like a common thread among most of them is pickled carrot and daikon (a type of radish.)  The remaining sandwich components vary and should depend on what you have on hand and your taste preferences.  The pickled veggies sound a little strange, but their sweet/sour flavor balances really well with salty pork, fresh lettuce and spicy jalapeno.  We’ll definitely make this sandwich again.

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