Sunday dinner memories and Seared Salmon Fillets with Dill Dijon Sauce

The Dill Dijon Sauce on this Seared Salmon Fillet tastes rich, calorific and sinful, but is in fact 100% fat free.

SUNDAY DINNERS USED TO BE A REGULAR THING WITH US. First, with a rotating cast of friends, and then as we had kids, with family and the occasional friend. Then the girls grew up and moved to other cities, and Sunday dinners became much less frequent. Ironically, the pandemic revived them for us. Continue reading “Sunday dinner memories and Seared Salmon Fillets with Dill Dijon Sauce” →

Quick Tomato Rice Cheese Casserole

Adapt this weeknight-quick, satisfying casserole based on what’s in your fridge—or what you’re hankering for. recipe below.

AT MY WORKPLACE, WE ARE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT ROI—RETURN ON INVESTMENT—AND THE ROI FOR THIS RECIPE IS IMMENSE. This is one of those classic recipes that is weeknight fast and super flexible. The key ingredients are tomatoes, rice and cheese. What else you add depends on what you have in your fridge and what you’re in the mood for. For this batch, we included kielbasa and green bell pepper.
Continue reading “Quick Tomato Rice Cheese Casserole” →

Nice and easy, like summer: Skillet Barbecue Pork Chops

Store-bought barbecue sauce and stovetop cooking make the summery taste of barbecue pork chops weeknight quick and easy. Recipe below.

SUMMER AND BARBECUED PORK CHOPS JUST GO TOGETHER. Unless, like us, you still haven’t gotten your grill out (patio redo delays), or you don’t/can’t grill where you live. These skillet barbecue pork chops give you delicious summery saucy flavor with the bonus of being truly weeknight quick. And the bonus bonus of leaving you with just a skillet to clean, not your grill. Continue reading “Nice and easy, like summer: Skillet Barbecue Pork Chops” →

A Passover staple that’s perfect year ’round: Matzoh Brei

Matzoh, eggs and very little else create a simple, quick, tasty and filling meal that can be served sweet or savory. Recipe below.

WHEN I TOLD MY SISTER LENA I WAS MAKING MATZOH BREI, she began reminiscing about our mom. She reminded me that when she was in elementary school, occasionally at lunchtime, when the weather was nice, she would walk home and Ma would fix her something. Sometimes it was a hamburger and sometimes it was a nice sandwich and a bowl of mushroom barley soup. And sometimes it was matzoh brei, with grape jam or powdered sugar. Then Lena would walk back to school in time for her next class. Continue reading “A Passover staple that’s perfect year ’round: Matzoh Brei” →

A one-pan meal you’ll put on repeat: Roasted Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans

Chicken thighs are started on the stovetop, then finished in the oven with potatoes and green beans. Recipe below.

WE HAVE NOW COOKED THIS MEAL three times in less than a month. Not trying to tweak the recipe as we sometimes do here, but simply because we wanted to eat it again. Of course, being one-pan easy to make didn’t hurt its chances of being put on repeat. Continue reading “A one-pan meal you’ll put on repeat: Roasted Chicken, Potatoes and Green Beans” →

Aptly named, make-it-again delicious: Weeknight Spicy Tofu Stir Fry

Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp adds crunchy, garlicky spiciness to celery, bell peppers, garlic, ginger and extra firm tofu in this quick vegan stir fry. Recipe below.

IN RECENT DAYS, WE’VE SEEN A NUMBER OF ARTICLES in which food writers and chefs stuck at home and even regular folks talk about the extras they need to have in their kitchen—not the basic pantry items like beans or tinned fish or unbleached flour, but basics-plus—the things that bring a dish to life, that are the foundations of their palates and styles. Preserved lemons, black garlic, 5-year cheddar, harissa paste, Plugra butter, fish sauce, Tabasco, gochujang. Continue reading “Aptly named, make-it-again delicious: Weeknight Spicy Tofu Stir Fry” →

Is drunk cooking even a thing? It can be: Midnight Spaghetti

Olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovy fillets, red pepper flakes, Parmesan and parsley create a simple, lively sauce for late-night pasta. Recipe below.

Midnight Spaghetti

MIDNIGHT SPAGHETTI HAD US AT THE NAME. It just sounds like something that comes together quickly with things you have on hand. Something you can actually do after a night out involving wine or cocktails, and even if the wine is still flowing while you cook. When it’s midnight and you’re suddenly hungry, but for something cooler than drive thru fare. Continue reading “Is drunk cooking even a thing? It can be: Midnight Spaghetti” →

An accidental restaurant and an enduring soup: Balaban’s Chilled Cucumber Bisque

This rich, creamy chilled cucumber bisque is an elegant starter. Make it up to a day ahead to give it time to chill. Recipe below.

RECENT NEWS MADE MY FORMER-SAINT-LOUISAN-PERENNIAL-FOODLOVER HEART SKIP A BEAT: the restaurant Balaban’s is moving back to the city. And according to a press release, the new owner is bringing back its “original menu and signature dishes.” For Marion and me, that means this glorious soup. Continue reading “An accidental restaurant and an enduring soup: Balaban’s Chilled Cucumber Bisque” →

A quick-cooking, show-stealing dish: Instant Pot Mexican Black Beans

In the Instant Pot, dried black beans and a handful of ingredients turn into a luxuriously delicious side or main course in 45 minutes, no presoaking, no sautéing, no fuss. Recipe below.

Instant Pot Mexican Black Beans

THE FIRST TIME I EVER HAD BLACK BEANS was in a tiny restaurant somewhere in upstate New York, in the form of black bean soup. I was ever so young and ever so inexperienced. I don’t remember anything about the restaurant except that it was small and friendly, and the windows looked out on hemlock trees, and our waiter, a tall, calm woman, was also the sole front of house person and likely the owner and possibly one of the cooks. Continue reading “A quick-cooking, show-stealing dish: Instant Pot Mexican Black Beans” →

Quick, simple, satisfying: Chicken Kimchi Hash

Kimchi adds a garlicky, tangy, spicy kick to a chicken and potatoes hash. Recipe below.

Chicken Kimchi Hash

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]W[/su_dropcap]e love kimchi so much. We try to have a jar of it in the fridge at all times. And while we mix it in all sorts of things, most often we just snack on it, and I’m not embarrassed to say that this often takes the form of straight from the jar, in front of the open refrigerator.

Sunday afternoon, we were randomly driving around, taking care of a few little errands and musing about what to fix for dinner. It was really cold and windy out, and we were a bit under the weather, so we were trying to puzzle out something that would be full of comfort and heartiness and simplicity. Continue reading “Quick, simple, satisfying: Chicken Kimchi Hash” →