Tuscan-Style Steak with Arugula and Parmesan

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

On a busy weeknight, we love a dish that incorporates both the protein and the vegetable in the same recipe — as seen here and here.  Such meals are usually really easy to prepare, but still have fresh and complex flavors.  We found this recipe in an old cookbook by Cook’s Illustrated, “The Quick Recipe,” which we found at a Half Price Books store (used book stores are great places to find good quality cookbooks at inexpensive prices.)  The ingredients for this dish include steak, arugula, a vinaigrette made with olive oil, lemon, garlic, fresh parsley, fresh oregano, salt & pepper, and freshly shaved parmesan for garnish.  We added tomatoes for a little extra flavor and texture.  We’re crazy like that.

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Mi Cocina (Restaurant Review)

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For my birthday lunch this year, Dan took me to one of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants, Mi Cocina.  They have multiple locations around town, many of which we have been to many times.  We each have our preferred items on their menu, but pretty much everything we’ve ever eaten there has been delicious.  Sometimes as a restaurant expands with numerous locations, the quality suffers.  Not so with Mi Cocina — all the restaurants where we have dined offer high quality, perfectly seasoned Tex-Mex dishes with fresh ingredients.  As often as we eat there, we never get tired of it.  Continue reading “Mi Cocina (Restaurant Review)”

Grilled Pork Chops with Mushroom-Soy Vinaigrette

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

Bobby Flay knows his way around a grill.  We have several of his grilling cookbooks and I like to consult them when we’re in the mood for something a little different than the usual grill recipes.  Bobby tends to use a lot of interesting rubs and sauces in his grilling, and this dish is no exception.  We like how the rich and earthy mushroom flavor of the sauce complements the spicy (but not too spicy) rub on the pork.  This mushroom vinaigrette would also be good served on other proteins – like a grilled chicken breast or a nice filet mignon.

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Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (with leftover chicken)

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

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.

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Panzanella (Eggplant, Tomato & Bread Salad)

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

Sometimes I think that side dishes are the bane of my existence.  Sometimes, I’m also a little overly dramatic.  But I do find that we get bored with the same old side dishes, and I’m often looking for new and different recipes to accompany our protein main courses.  This side is one of my most successful discoveries yet.  The ingredients are really simple — grilled eggplant and bread, combined with tomatoes and basil — all dressed with a nice balsamic vinaigrette.  The result tastes like something you would maybe have for lunch with a nice glass of vino bianco at a quaint trattoria off the square of a little town in Italy (except it would be better there because everything is Better In Italy.)

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Verde Pork

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

Way back when it was still winter here in Texas, we had a snow/ice storm.  While we were “snowed in,” Dan wanted to cook some comfort food, but something a little different than the usual stew, chili or casserole.   He found this recipe, which incorporates pork, jalapenos, tomatillos and other yummy Tex-Mex ingredients.  The “verde” in this dish comes from the deliciously tart tomatillos, perfectly balanced against the spice of the jalepeno peppers.

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Rack of Lamb

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

Lamb is not something we eat very often, and this is the first time we’ve ever cooked it at home.  But Dan has a very good, and very persuasive, friend who has been requesting a lamb recipe, so we were happy to oblige.  We decided to do rack of lamb because that is what was available in our grocery store.  Dan researched several recipes and combined certain components from each to come up with this particular dish.  It turned out great, and we enjoyed experimenting with a new (to us) protein.  This one’s for you, Dr. Z!

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Crawfish Boil

Posted By under Reviews

My youngest brother Adam’s birthday just happens to coincide with crawfish season in Texas.  For the past several years, he has celebrated his special day by hosting a crawfish boil with lots of friends and family. And mudbugs. It’s always a great party that we look forward to attending, and this year was no exception.

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