A new way to love our favorite cheap cut: Chinese-style Short Ribs

Hoisin sauce, ginger, garlic and scallions help flavor these hearty short ribs. You can cook them quickly in your Instant Pot—or braise them slowly in the oven. Recipe below.

WE HAVE COOKED SHORT RIBS SO MANY TIMES, SO MANY WAYS. So when we had dinner guests coming this weekend and spotted beautiful flanken-cut ribs at the meat market, I wondered if I could find a new way to cook them. The answer, of course, was yes. Continue reading “A new way to love our favorite cheap cut: Chinese-style Short Ribs” →

From dinner to dessert to breakfast: five ricotta recipes (and a surprise or two)

Ricotta Chevre Cake

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]T[/su_dropcap]his weekend, our daughter who bakes was in town. So she and Marion baked the traditional Italian cake you see here, made with ricotta, goat cheese, dried tart cherries and a mere seven tablespoons of flour. More about this cake later, but it got me thinking about ricotta. Continue reading “From dinner to dessert to breakfast: five ricotta recipes (and a surprise or two)” →

Authentic Indian cooking deliciously decoded: Dal Makhani (Buttery Black Lentils)

Make this flavorful, spicy vegetarian main dish in your slow cooker—you can start it in the morning, then return home to a heavenly fragrance and meal. Recipe below.

OUR WONDERFUL FRIEND ANUPY SINGLA IS A POWERHOUSE. Prolific blogger (over at Indian as Apple Pie), author of numerous cookbooks that make Indian food accessible for the American kitchen and entrepreneur with a bustling company offering delicious Indian ingredients to make the whole thing even easier. Continue reading “Authentic Indian cooking deliciously decoded: Dal Makhani (Buttery Black Lentils)” →

Liven up your staples and your dinner: “Old Godmother” Oven-braised Chicken

A handful of Asian pantry/fridge staples turns chicken thighs into a delicious, weeknight-quick dinner. Recipe below.

“Old Godmother” Oven-braised Chicken

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]H[/su_dropcap]ere is a very simple, very tasty weeknight dish. So simple, in fact, that we thought it was only going to be dinner, not a post. But as it baked in the oven, the aroma filling the kitchen told us we should photograph it, just in case. Continue reading “Liven up your staples and your dinner: “Old Godmother” Oven-braised Chicken” →

Why Irish eyes are smiling: Colcannon

Potatoes, cabbage, leeks and plenty of butter cook into a humble-sounding, but luxuriously creamy traditional Irish favorite, colcannon. Recipe below.

WE LOVE POTATOES. WE LOVE CABBAGE. So how have we never heard of colcannon? Now, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day (a coincidence?), we have. The humble beginnings of colcannon, a traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes and cabbage, belie its heavenly flavor. Continue reading “Why Irish eyes are smiling: Colcannon” →

How the French do rustic: Chicken Chasseur (Hunter’s Chicken)

Chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes are at the heart of this rustic, one-pot dinner, traditionally cooked by French hunters. Recipe below.

Chicken Chasseur

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]L[/su_dropcap]ast week’s recipe, Marion’s Polish Hunter’s Stew, came about because John over at Kitchen Riffs shared a recipe for an Italian hunter’s dish, Chicken Cacciatore. When I saw it, I realized Marion had never made bigos for the blog and put in a request. (We’ll share a link to John’s recipe in the Kitchen Notes below.) So when I saw a French hunter’s dish somewhere else, I of course had to make it. Continue reading “How the French do rustic: Chicken Chasseur (Hunter’s Chicken)” →

Meat, sauerkraut and warm, delicious traditions: Bigos, Polish Hunter’s Stew

Kielbasa, pork roast, chicken, sauerkraut and cabbage anchor bigos, a hearty stew and Poland’s national dish. Recipe below.

TECHNICALLY, MARCH 1 IS THE END OF METEOROLOGICAL WINTER. So why is the weather still so wildly cold? In fact, just before sitting down to write this, I saw that this coming weekend we will be in a bubble of frigid air that will be the coldest on the planet. How can we face it? The answer, of course, is bigos. Continue reading “Meat, sauerkraut and warm, delicious traditions: Bigos, Polish Hunter’s Stew” →

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” →

A traditional Mexican favorite, not so slow cooked: Beef Barbacoa Tacos

Barbacoa is a flavorful Mexican meat preparation with many variations. Here, it’s cooked in an Instant Pot and served as tacos. Recipe below.

Beef Barbacoa Tacos

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]I[/su_dropcap]t is colder in Chicago right now than in Antarctica. And the North Pole. And Mount Everest. But even before the polar vortex bore down on us this week, bringing the coldest weather in a generation, snow and cold had us thinking of meaty, stewy, cozy dishes. And as luck would have it, Marion had recently come across a barbacoa recipe. Continue reading “A traditional Mexican favorite, not so slow cooked: Beef Barbacoa Tacos” →