Dijon mustard adds a surprisingly delicate touch to these simple, flavorful lamb chops, pan seared and finished in the oven. Recipe below.
OUR LOVE AFFAIR WITH LAMB IS PRETTY MUCH A YEAR-ROUND THING. So when the American Lamb Board asked us if we’d like to help get the word out about an actual Lamb Lover’s Month—February, as it happens—we jumped at the chance. Continue reading “Easy to make, easy to love: Lamb Chops with Dijon Mustard and Thyme”
Shallots, garlic, tarragon, brandy and balsamic vinegar create a lively sauce for simply prepared duck breasts and sautéed pears—an easy, elegant Valentine’s Day dinner. Recipe below.
DUCKS ARE FUNNY. When we’re kids, they’re the subject of cartoons and homey barnyard stories. “Quack” is one of the great comic animal sounds we all enthusiastically learn. But put duck on a restaurant menu and suddenly it’s exotic and luxe, even in rustic preparations. Prepare duck at home and it’s sure to impress, making it perfect for a romantic dinner for you and your valentine.
Unfortunately, duck can also seem intimidating to some home cooks. And sure, preparing duck confit can be a long, involved process. But duck breasts are a breeze, not only easy to prepare, but quick. Continue reading “A romantic dinner to impress your Valentine: Duck Breasts with Pears and Shallots”
Many flavors come together to create a complex, satisfying and surprisingly mild seasonal pasta dish. Recipe below.
Brussels sprouts get a totally undeserved bad rap. I think much of it comes from our national suspicion of vegetables in general. And much of that stems from bad or at least unimaginative cooking. Too many cooks treat vegetables as an afterthought, something to be boiled beyond mushy and then seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Of course many of us learn to fear vegetables from our parents. They hated them as kids and expect us to hate them too. So we do.
Whatever the reason for this collective aversion, hiding vegetables has become an industry all its own. Campbell’s V8 Juice first turned them into juice, so you could drink them. Now they’ve launched V8 Fusion, which hides vegetables in clear fruit juices.
Jessica Seinfeld wrote an entire cookbook, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, based on the premise of sneaking vegetables and other good things into kids’ meals. Continue reading “Winter’s seasonal pleasures: Braised Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Golden Raisins and Linguine”
Slow marinating with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, Chinese five-spice powder, fresh ginger and other pan-Asian ingredients infuses quick-cooking Chinese Pork Tenderloin with big, complex flavor. Recipe below.
Guitarists sometimes refer to capos as cheaters. By strapping a capo onto the guitar’s neck in various positions, you can change the key you’re playing in without having to transpose the music.
To me, marinating is kind of a cheater technique. And I mean that in a good way. A very simple process—mixing some stuff together and letting it sit for a while—can transpose a simply prepared meal into something that tastes more impressive than it rightfully should.
Marinating infuses meats [and seafood and even vegetables] with flavors limited only by your imagination, and just about every cuisine and culture Continue reading “Asian infusion: Marinating blends multiple influences in Chinese Pork Tenderloin”
This simple, classic French preparation makes the most of skate wing’s mild, sweet flesh, brightening it with lemon juice and capers. Other white-fleshed fish—sole, flounder, halibut, ocean perch—may also be used. Recipe below.
“ARE YOU ENGLISH” The question surprised me. I answered with a simple no. “Well, did you live in England for a while?” Again, no. I was curious as to what had the fishmonger at Dirk’s Fish & Gourmet Shop convinced that I had some English connection. Turns out it was the pound or so of skate wing fillet he’d just wrapped up for me. Continue reading “The other white fish: Skate Meunière with Browned Butter and Capers”
Inexpensive lamb shoulder chops become the star of a flavorful meal when you add thyme, garlic, tomatoes, wine and oven braising. Recipe below.
There are so many thing I love about this dish. First and foremost is the distinctive, mildly gamy flavor of lamb. As I’ve said in these pages before, that gaminess is the same quality that separates venison from beef and duck from chicken. I also love the straightforward simplicity of this meal—a handful of ingredients, simple preparation and time are all that’s required. And most of the time is the meat cooking unattended in the oven—prep time is minimal. And maybe most of all, I love the way it transforms a humble cut of meat into something delicious and satisfying.
In last week’s post about Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs, I talked about oven braising and how its even heat tenderizes flavorful but chewy inexpensive cuts of meat without drying them out. Lamb shoulder chops are another cut perfect for this treatment. Continue reading “Let us now braise, part 2: Braised Lamb Shoulder Chops and Tomatoes”
Slow oven braising and plenty of garlic, scallions, star anise and pan-Asian ingredients turn inexpensive beef short ribs into a tender, exotic main course. Recipe below.
The first time I tasted steak I was in college. Cheap cuts of meat were what we ate in my working class family when I was growing up. Chuck roast, pork steaks [as opposed to the leaner, more costly chops], beef stew, burgers made from fatty ground chuck… We also occasionally had short ribs, but only as an ingredient in a beefy vegetable soup.
I relate this personal history with cheap cuts not as a tale of woe and deprivation. These cuts are often more flavorful than their pricier brethren and probably largely responsible for my love of all things meaty. But they’re usually tougher than the more expensive cuts too. I remember many happy, chewy meals.
Braising takes care of the toughness issue. Slow, moist cooking breaks down connective tissue and melts some of the fat also present in most inexpensive cuts of meat. The result is wonderfully flavorful, juicy meat that is almost falling-apart tender. Continue reading “Let us now braise inexpensive cuts: Oven-braised Asian Short Ribs”
Roasting cauliflower mellows its flavor, helping it blend deliciously with sautéed bacon, red bell pepper, onion, garlic and spinach pasta. Recipe below.
Inspiration can come from the least likely places. A photograph of cauliflower and sneakers, for instance.
I’d been thinking about doing something with pasta recently. Not actively thinking about it, mind you, but just setting it on simmer on a mental back burner. I figured sooner or later, something would spark an idea. This amusingly strange photo did.
Laura over at What I Like took it to illustrate just how hefty the cauliflower was that she’d found at the market, adding “and I suppose I should mention that I have quite big feet” to further impress us with its size. The wonderful, weird incongruity of the photo Continue reading “Inspiration by the foot: Spinach Fettuccine with Cauliflower and Bacon”
Seasonal roasted root vegetables turn homemade gnocchi into a satisfying vegetarian main course or a flavorful, colorful side. Recipes below.
At Thanksgiving, my role in the kitchen is pretty much limited to carving the turkey and maybe making a salad. In keeping with that tradition, I’m going to turn Blue Kitchen over to Marion for this post. Be sure to stick around for a couple of other non-traditional dishes that are traditions in our house. You’ll find the links at the end of the Kitchen Notes below.
This dish is to welcome our family members who are vegetarians to our Thanksgiving table. We don’t want to relegate them to the gulag of side dishes, and we want to prepare something honoring the time of year, the occasion and our family memories.
The answer, for those of us [see Kitchen Notes] who won’t ever allow Tofurkey in the house: Gnocchi. For us, this is something handmade, homemade and, with these beautiful roasted vegetables, transcending its humble origins—as simple and honest as our love for one another.
Gnocchi—not under that name—was a regular part of our family meals when I was a child. I am not sure how my mother—whose cooking style was definitely prewar Eastern European—came to make this pasta. Continue reading “A tofu-free vegetarian Thanksgiving main dish: Gnocchi with Roasted Root Vegetables”
From quick weeknight dinners to slow cooking and from Morocco to New Mexico, here are five surefire recipes to warm your insides as cooler weather takes over.
A friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a body.” By the standards of this graffiti found in the men’s room of Chicago’s Green Mill Jazz Club, Marion and I are not good friends. There were no bodies involved. But we did just spend five days helping someone with three cats move 600 miles. So I think we qualify as pretty good friends.
Those five days included zero time spent in a functioning kitchen. So this week, I’m digging into the Blue Kitchen archives for some hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meals perfect for taking the chill off cool autumn—and even downright cold winter—nights.
Pictured above, this dish combines golden raisins and an international mix of spices, with an emphasis on bold flavor, not heat. It delivers the warm, sweet/savory tastes and aromas of traditional Moroccan cuisine, a blend of Europe, the spice trade routes and the African continent. Moroccan Braised Beef uses slow oven braising to turn inexpensive, flavorful but tough chuck roast into a tender, delicious, fragrant meal.
This hearty, healthy soup comes together quickly, perfect for a weeknight meal. Lentils pack a powerful nutritional punch—they’re loaded with fiber and protein. Kale brings plenty to the table too—vitamins A and C, folic acid, calcium and iron. It also contains cancer-fighting antioxidants. And good health aside, Lentil Soup with Kale and Sausage is just plain good. Continue reading “Five recipes guaranteed to beat the cold”
