Artichoke Heart and Spinach Quiche? Yes, please

Marinated artichoke hearts and spinach create a subtle, flavorful base for this vegetarian quiche. Recipe below.

I AM ALWAYS READY FOR QUICHE. If we’re out somewhere and see it on the menu, that’s what I’m ordering. I’m also a big fan of artichoke hearts. So recently, when Kalyn Denny shared her recipe for Artichoke, Kale and Ricotta Pie, my first thought was “that looks delicious”—closely followed by my second thought: “artichoke hearts would make a great quiche.” Continue reading “Artichoke Heart and Spinach Quiche? Yes, please” →

Leave it to the French to dial up a favorite side dish: Boursin Mashed Potatoes

Boursin, a garlicky, herby French soft cheese, livens up the flavor of mashed potatoes. Recipe below.

WE LOVE MASHED POTATOES. Our weeknight go-to batch is garlicky mashed potatoes made with peeled yellow potatoes, butter, buttermilk and plenty of garlic. When we came across a recipe for Boursin mashed potatoes, we thought it might dial our favorite side dish up a notch or two. It did exactly that, making them still garlicky, but adding a rich, creamy, cheesy, herby flavor along with the nice texture of bits of red potato skins. Continue reading “Leave it to the French to dial up a favorite side dish: Boursin Mashed Potatoes” →

Fun to make, delicious to eat: Pork and Cabbage Potstickers

These classic Chinese dumplings are an impressive “yeah-I-made-these” appetizer. Recipe below.

MY POTSTICKERS ARE LIKE SNOWFLAKES. NO TWO LOOK EXACTLY ALIKE. In celebration of Lunar New Year, the fun committee of the ad agency where I work hosted a virtual potsticker-making class. Having made our fillings beforehand from shared recipes, there we were in our Google Meet grid, trialing and erroring our way through filling, folding and pleating our dumplings. Continue reading “Fun to make, delicious to eat: Pork and Cabbage Potstickers” →

Recipes for a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner at home

VALENTINE’S DAY IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING. And if you’re like us, your inbox is stuffed with dinner recipes to cook for your valentine. In searching through our own archives, we came across a post from several years ago that gathered some of our favorite courses for a romantic dinner. Take a look. We hope you’ll find something you like. And Happy Valentine’s Day, all.

Pork Chops with Fennel, a one-pot cozy winter meal

Fennel bulbs help flavor these chops—and serve as a side in this one-pot, weeknight-quick meal. Recipe below.

NEVER TRUST IDEAS HAD AT 1:45 IN THE MORNING. I was lying awake last Saturday at said hour, realizing we didn’t have a recipe to post this coming Wednesday and knowing we would be out of town on Sunday. Suddenly, I thought of cooking pork chops with fennel bulbs. It sounded like a great idea, one-pot simple and a cozy winter antidote—I sent myself a note and went to sleep. It was a great idea. We’d done it in 2015. Continue reading “Pork Chops with Fennel, a one-pot cozy winter meal” →

Weeknight quick comfort food: Instant Pot Korean Beef

Gochujang, a Korean fermented pepper paste, and a host of pan-Asian ingredients create a comforting beefy antidote for winter dinner blahs. Recipe below.

WE SOMETIMES REFER TO OUR APPROACH IN THE KITCHEN as cooking with a magpie eye. Like those inquisitive, acquisitive birds, we’re always looking for shiny new objects. For us, that can mean new-to-us ingredients, techniques, ideas. So when we recently came across recipes for Korean beef, we already had most of the ingredients on hand—and some sense of what they could do together. Continue reading “Weeknight quick comfort food: Instant Pot Korean Beef” →

Asian ingredients bring umami to not-necessarily-Asian Roast Chicken with Miso Glaze

We use white miso paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil not to create an authentic Asian dish, but to deliver big savory flavor to roasted chicken thighs. Recipe below.

WE’RE BIG FANS OF USING INGREDIENTS IN UNINTENDED WAYS. Recently, Marion used miso paste, a traditional Japanese seasoning, to add an umami twist to banana bread. Here, a host of Asian ingredients create big flavor without nodding to any specific cuisine. Continue reading “Asian ingredients bring umami to not-necessarily-Asian Roast Chicken with Miso Glaze” →

Eating our way through the holidays

WE’VE DONE A LITTLE TRAVELING OVER THE HOLIDAYS AFTER ALL. A day trip to Milwaukee to see our daughter there and eat delicious takeout from The Vanguard. The Chef-driven bar and restaurant offers “an elevated approach to Milwaukee’s Beer and Brat tradition,” with house-made sausages that range from familiar to adventurous. All with the city’s signature friendliness and lack of attitude. Continue reading “Eating our way through the holidays” →

Home for the holidays

WE WON’T BE TRAVELING FOR CHRISTMAS, and our kids won’t be coming here. Instead, we’ll be hunkering down. Still. Again. Waiting out the current surge and learning another letter of the Greek alphabet. We know we’re luckier than many others. Everyone is healthy and employed. Our weekly family Zoom dinners and daily phone calls and FaceTime are helping us stay close, feel together. Continue reading “Home for the holidays” →

Now Instant Pot-ready: Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic

This hearty pot roast made with capers, onions, garlic and anchovies, Grillades à L’Arlésienne, comes from the South of France. Here, it gets an Instant Pot makeover. Recipe below.

OUR HANKERINGS FOR THIS DELICIOUS ROAST always come at the most inopportune times. As in when we don’t have two and a half hours for it to roast after we’ve done the simple prep work. So it was time for an Instant Pot makeover. Continue reading “Now Instant Pot-ready: Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic” →