Saturday
- Out!
Sunday
- Smoked Turkey Breast, Baby Zucchini
Monday
Tuesday
- Sauteed Scallops with Lemon-Mustard Sauce, Smashed Potatoes, Broccolini
Wednesday
- Smoked Turkey and Jalapeno Pizza (with leftover turkey)
Thursday
- Take-Out
Friday
Canadian Bacon
Who doesn’t love Canada, our neighbor to the North, eh? After skiing a few times at Banff, we think that there are very few places on earth more beautiful than the Canadian Rockies. Canadians are, as a rule, truly nice people, and Canada has given us such gifts as the band Rush, Michael J. Fox, Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts, hockey and Niagara Falls — just to name a few. So when we found out that this month’s Charcutepalooza challenge was going to be hot-smoked Canadian bacon, we were understandably excited. Thanks as always to Mrs. Wheelbarrow and The Yummy Mummy, the organizers of Charcutepalooza, for the inspiration (and excuse justification for procuring a new cooking toy.)
Pork Kebabs
One of the main reasons we live in Texas is the weather, which we appreciate most in the Spring and Fall. Lots of people think that living in Texas, we don’t really get to experience the four traditional “seasons,” but we do. It’s just that two of them — Spring and Fall — happen to be rather short. Here in Dallas, we are lucky enough to still be having some Spring weather, unlike our poor friends and family further south, who are already experiencing the heat and humidity for which the Houston area is infamous. No matter the weather, we grill pretty much year-round. Yet the warm (but not too warm!) temps and sunny, cloud-free days definitely have me drawn to our grilling cookbooks when searching for recipes these days. This pork recipe is one we have had many times before, but for some reason we usually only cook it during warm weather months. Maybe it’s something about the kebab itself — perhaps the idea of grilling almost your entire meal on a “stick” evokes memories/thoughts of summer days and nights roasting hot dogs and marshmallows around a campfire. We decided to enjoy this nostalgic feeling and kick off our short window of Spring with pork kebabs. Check back in about a month (or less) for recipes involving refrigeration and bitching about how it’s already too hot to be outside.
Weekly Menu (Apr. 9)
Saturday
- Annual Crawfish Boil (Happy Birthday Adam!)
Sunday
- Fajitas, Homemade Salsa and Chips
Monday
- Beef Kabobs and Asian Noodles
Tuesday
- Take-Out
Wednesday
- BBQ Cajun Shrimp, Rice Pilaf, Zucchini
Thursday
- Chicken Stew with Green Olives, Homemade Sourdough Bread
Friday
- Pan-Seared Tilapia with Chile-Lime Butter, Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa
Hasselback Potatoes
As self-described foodies, we spend a lot of time looking for interesting recipes and different ways of cooking food. Dan recently came across a photo of “Hasselback Potatoes” and was immediately intrigued. We’d never seen or heard of this type of potato dish before, but liked how they looked and decided to research some recipes. We were surprised to discover how easy they are to make, considering how complicated and fancy they appear. And they taste as good as they look — sort of like gourmet home-fries.
Tuna Salad
This is not your typical tuna salad. The difference that sets this tuna apart (in our opinion) is the addition of lime and horseradish. And there are no pickles in this dish, which is one of the main ingredients we think of when we think tuna salad. Not that we think about or make tuna salad all that often, but when we do, we like to use this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated’s American Classics cookbook. The ingredients are simple: solid white tuna (packed in water), lime juice and lime zest, prepared horseradish, red onion, fresh parsley, salt and pepper, mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. Simple but tasty.
Red Beans and Rice
We’ve mentioned before that one of our favorite places we’ve ever visited is New Orleans. When we were there last May, we wandered around looking for a good place to have our final meal of the trip, hoping to make up for a surprisingly mediocre plate of etouffee from lunch the previous day. (The etouffee was so bad that a local guy dining next to us said it was the worst he’d ever had and he didn’t want to have to pay for his meal as a result.) We found a great little place in the French Quarter that more than made up for the not-so-good lunch. Dan ordered the meal featuring a trio of famous Cajun dishes — red beans and rice, etouffee and gumbo — and finally got to sample what authentic etouffee is really supposed to taste like. The other two dishes were authentically delicious as well. Ever since that meal, we’ve wanted to try making these dishes at home. We’ve already tried Seafood Gumbo (with rather successful results, if we do say so ourselves – and we do), so we decided to give red beans and rice a shot. Success Number Two!
Weekly Menu (Apr. 2)
Saturday
- Out with Friends
Sunday
- BBQ Game Hen, Hasselback Potatoes, Broccolini
Monday
- Tuscan-Style Lamb Chops with Panzanella
Tuesday
- Take-Out
Wednesday
- Chinese Chicken Salad with Hoisin Vinaigrette (with leftover game hen)
Thursday
- Tortellini Soup
Friday
- Chipotle Shrimp, Rice, Salad
Skirt Steak Tacos
This might be the most simple and easy recipe we have ever posted. It’s so basic that it doesn’t even require an actual recipe. All you do is roast some onion strips in the oven and grill a skirt steak, then put those ingredients in a taco. But the end result tastes a lot more complex — as if you marinated the steak for hours and meticulously carmelized the onions. This meal is perfect for a busy weeknight, or even a last-minute dinner party where you can fool your guests into thinking you spent way more time cooking for them than you actually did. (We won’t tell.)
Breuckelen Restaurant (Review)
We spent a too-short weekend in New York recently, visiting Dan’s brother Sean, his lovely wife and their adorable baby boy. We love their neighborhood in Brooklyn, partly because of the Breuckelen Restaurant, where we had an early dinner on Saturday. When you dine at Breuckelen, you can tell how much the Chef really loves food and appreciates combining quality ingredients into mini masterpieces on every plate. All of us enjoyed our meal immensely.