Eating Dinner With My Family

It's Halloween and I am making some dips for our annual cul de sac party but luckily it's also a Thursday and I know exactly what fast/easy/tasty dish to make. The spicy sausage pasta. (The sausage was even on sale!  It's fate!).  The family really loves this!  (and soooo easy!)  I left the cheese off this one and we didn't miss it. Spicy Sausage Pasta  olive oil  smoked sausage  diced onion  cloves garlic, minced  low-sodium chicken broth  Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild  heavy cream  penne pasta  salt and pepper  Monterey Jack cheese, shredded  thinly sliced scallions Recipe and instructions here

So I am still cleaning out my food stores. I was looking through all the recipes I have in my to try file and this recipe sounded yummy and I had everything I needed for it.  It was outstanding!  I loved it.  It was fairly easy too.  I didn't bother with the croutons, instead, I just added all the garlic to the soup and then gave everybody hunks of baguette.  Easier, less oil and still really delicious!  This is going to be a favorite of mine!  It was pretty spicy with the 1/4 tsp of cayenne, next time, I will most likely reduce this amount a bit and let the everyone spice up the soup to the heat level they prefer.  The person who really couldn't take it was the 3 year old.  Really amazing.  I am full but I want more now! Spicy Onion-Garlic Soup With Poached Eggs 3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 3 large garlic cloves minced 1 medium sweet onion cut into 1/8-inch dice 1/2 Tsp sweet paprika 6 Cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth 1/4 Ts...

I am still boycotting the grocery, but I found this pin I had for Parmesan broiled tilapia that I happened to have all the ingredients for.  I grated my own parm so it was in thin shreds, I guess you could use the green tube stuff too, but I try to avoid that stuff.  It doesn't take very long to great parm.  I liked the recipe, but I didn't love it.  The kids on the other hand, loved it.  My son was pissed I only made him one piece.  The husband wasn't home for dinner, so I can't give you his opinion.  We had this with some corn on the cob (I just microwaved it) with some compound butter I had in the freezer and a salad with oil and vinegar.  It was a super fast dinner, and while not stellar, a solid 3.5 for me and higher for the kids. Parmesan Broiled Talapia Talapia Parmesan Cheese Butter Mayonnaise Lemon Juice Fresh Dill Pepper (and I added a bit of salt since I use unsalted butter) Recipe and instructions here

Well the smells coming out of the crock pot aren't too bad, so that's a good sign!  It was an ok meal.  I totally didn't write down anything, so this post is worthless.  Sorry!  I threw some chicken quarters in the crock pot with some onion, whole canned tomatoes from the freezer, a chipotle pepper from the freezer and a chopped up onion, and a bit of water, salt, pepper and garlic.  Threw them all in frozen about 30 hours before dinner and cooked them on low.  Took them out, shredded them and served them with some refried beans I made, shredded purple cabbage and sliced radishes I needed to use an the rest of a block of cheddar that I also shredded.  Not fabulous, but it sure cleared up space in the fridge.  I think I will stop posting these improv dishes.

I have had moments of madness before where I decide to clean out the bursting larders I have, but this time I am making a serious effort!.  I refuse to go to the store unless there is a crucial item we don't have.  (you know like milk or wine;)  I am not pinning these recipe, and I felt like I shouldn't even post them, but my husband said why not, so here I am with nothing to say about an all right meal.  I am kind of afraid of tomorrows meal!  I threw a bunch of freezer items (chicken legs, whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, chipotle chilies) in the crock pot and we will be having "tacos" tomorrow.  I am making refried beans just in case!  I do think this combination of items could make a really great dish, but this was me kind of just rummaging through the fridge and pantry and tossing in things that had no other use and needed to be used. Pdoma Pasta 4 ounces of goat cheese (room temp and cut in 1/4 is best) 8 ounces of dried pasta 4 sun-drie...

cheese sticks on the bottom, ground beef on top I have been seeing these wonton wrapped mozzarella sticks all over pinterest, and I was curious but not very hopeful.  Yes, I guess, they made a mozzarella stick of sorts, and the kids did like them alright, but my husband and I thought really bad.  Really, don't bother.  They didn't even hold together that well.  I had my husband go into the freezer for some other type of filling when I was making these, and that was a great call.  I have decided to take a break from shopping for new recipes.  We have lots of busy weeks ahead, and I can't put one more thing in to the pantry or fridge.  I will be playing chopped in my larders.  I may or may not post the recipes.  I don't foresee a lot of tasty dinners, but at least it will be like spring cleaning.  Wonton Wrapped Mozzarella Sticks 8 string cheese 24 wonton wrappers 1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp of water oil for deep-frying salt and...

My husband has been wanting me to try making Chicken and Waffles.  I would love to, but I haven't had them before and I'm not sure just what they should taste like.  Today is meatless Monday, and I saw this recipe, so I figure it would be a great place to start.  I really liked this.  If I were to complain about anything, it would be that I think it needed more of a sauce.  Perhaps I reduced the cream a bit too much.  With the mushroom 'sauce' as I made it and the runny yolk, it was just a tad dry.  I had another revelation, waffles are super filling!  I think I am going to be making savory waffles often! They are a quick and easy bread to make for a variety of open faced sandwiches. Savory Waffles With Cremini Mushrooms And Poached Eggs   Waffles 2 Cup all-purpose flour 1 Tbl sugar 2 Tsp baking powder 1/2 Tsp salt 1/4 Tsp freshly ground pepper 4 Tbl unsalted butter melted 1/4 Cup minced shallots or red onion 1 Tbl finely chopp...

I think I have found a new favorite dressing!  It was super tasty, and totally worth the work of chopping an onion;).  I made this batch and after using it on tonight's salad, I am confident that we have enough for at least 3 more big salads.  For out main meal, we had the fusilli with green beans pasta that we have had a record 3 times since the blog started.  (Shocking I know:)  It is our go to recipe for green beans.  Since I wanted a new recipe, I found a dressing.  It will be a regular in the dressing rotation.  The only ingredient I need to get somewhere other than my grocery is the miso, but I get that at the health food store around the corner from the grocery, so it isn't a hassle. Miso Dressing 1/3 Cup roughly diced vidalia onion 1 small garlic clove peeled and roughly chopped 1/4 Cup plus 1 tbsp white miso 2 Tbl toasted sesame oil 2 Tbl soy sauce 2 Tbl rice wine vinegar 2 Tbl mirin 2 Tbl water 1 large pinch coarse salt 3 g...

We have another first for me in my Front Porch Pickings basket, tatsoi.  I have had it mixed in to a variety of organic salad greens I have gotten from the store, but never all by its self.  So, I turned to my trusty Field to Feast book, and found this recipe for Potato and Tatsoi Pizza.  I didn't make the dough that was in the book, we were at a corn maze all day, but other than that, I followed the recipe exactly even though it cooked the pizza very differently than I do.  The result, the crust was a disaster, but the potato/tatsoi/ricotta combination was really great.  I think if I sliced the potatoes just a tad thinner on the mandoline, I could bake it for less time at 550 like I normally do and the potatoes will get done and crust would be better.  Then this would be really excellent!  We enjoyed dinner despite the uber crunchy bottom crust (the ends of the crust were hard like stale bread).  Also there was plenty of potatoes left....

I actually made this last night for a late evening with the girls.  The evening was full of laughter and great friends, the mushroom were meh.  I guess they are ok, but I had much higher hopes for two of my favorite things.  First of all, and I can't believe I am about to say this, but there was way too much garlic.  There was way too much topping in general.  I have made and eaten plenty of stuffed mushrooms and these were near the bottom of them all.  Sorry Pioneer woman, I have loved every other recipe of yours I have tried, and I enjoyed your post and laughed a lot, but I just didn't dig the mushrooms. Mushrooms Stuffed With Brie 1 Pkg White Button Mushrooms Washed And Stems Removed 4 Clove Garlic Minced 1/4 Cup Flat-leaf Parsley Chopped 4 whole (to 5) Green Onions Sliced (up To Middle Of Dark Green Part) Splash Of White Wine (optional) 1 Slice (wedge) Of Brie Cheese Preheat oven to 350 degrees Melt butter in large saucepan. Add mushroom ...

For throwback Thursday, my son got to choose, and he choose a family favorite: Spicy Corn Chowder.  Other than getting the corn off 10 ears, the recipe isn't hard.  I suppose a slacker solution would be frozen, but cutting corn off the cob isn't that hard, and we even did it the day before.  We froze the cobs and are going to make corn broth with them later.  This soup is really amazing.  My family likes to add a few dashes of  Tabasco Chipotle Hot sauce.  It is smoky and with some heat that really makes the soup outstanding.  We don't bother with the cheese because it really doesn't need it. Spicy Corn Chowder 1/2 Lb thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon (6-slices), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces 1 medium yellow onion cut into 1/2-inch dice 3 scallions thinly sliced 2 celery ribs cut into 1/2-inch dice 1 red bell pepper stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch d 1 Tsp fresh thyme 5 Cup fresh corn kernels (from 10 medium cobs) 1/2 Tsp pu...

I haven't made this marinade in years.  It came to me from a former manager of a Steak and Ale that was, then, working with my husband. They had used it on some steaks the cooked for an employee  cookout. I tried the steaks, loved them because they were tender and flavorful, and asked for the recipe. The funny thing was that my husband told me later the reasons the employees got steaks at the cookout, is they were being taken off the menu because of too many complaints of toughness. Now I guess it could be true I got the rare tender one in the bunch but I think it was the marinade. These particular steaks at the cookout were marinated for 3 days. I would only do that for really tough cuts of meat. I did this London broil for about 24 hours. The ends tasted to salty and too much like the marinade, but most of it was just right. I did not salt the meat at all.  I cooked it like I do my steaks (under the broiler) I just increased the time a bit and gave it a few minutes in t...

If you read my brief post on the tagine, you would know I had sausage issues with it.  I bought this raw chorizo they had at the store even thought I was sure the tagine called for cooked sausage.  I was quite annoyed with the tagine and my store.  Fast forward to today, and I am looking to make something with the superfluous chorizo I have.  I see this recipe in the to try file and I think it fits the bill nicely.  It was easy to cook and other than the potatoes taking like three times as long to brown up, the recipe was accurate and fast.  Let me tell you, once we tasted this, all was forgiven with the tagine.  I love that I made it because it caused this dinner to happen.  Oh myyyy!  If I were going to make any tweaks, I would have liked a tad more potatoes to meat in the hash.  It wasn't bad, but I tend to like less meat than most.  As it was, I was making it with only a pound of chorizo, and I used 1 pound 12 ounces potatoes wh...

I wasn't sure how this would turn out.  It seems a super easy shortcut to fondue. (And I guess technically it is more of a raclalette??) It also boded ill when the instructions said Italian fontina was better and they only had Swedish, but dang if this wasn't a giant bowl of artery clogging goodness!  I had forgotten just how much fun fondue is.  I am determined to have it more often.  (I'm thinking Fondue First Friday??)  There was one injury when the little girl (who shouldn't really have had her own fondue fork, but...) kind of stabbed herself in the palm, but to be fair we were in the middle of telling her that fondue forks and crackers are a bad idea and she will get hurt.  I still don't think she believes it despite the crying, tantrum and several band aids required to soothe her.  I didn't measure the oil, but I don't think I had that much more than what was called for, but here was a ton of, albeit tasty, oil in the skillet.  Not complaini...

This dish was frought with problems from the get go. The sausage!  Oh the dang sausage. Merguez wasn't going to be found in town but I had high hopes on the chorizo. Well they had the raw Mexican kind at publix and not the cooked Spanish kind that this recipe called for.  I settled for a hot Portuguese sausage.  (chorico?) that they had at the store.  I don't really like this sausage.  The instructions to cover the lentil with an inch of water was way, way too much!  I didn't even get a whole inch over the top, and almost none evaporated.  This made the tagine very runny and I cooked it longer to try and fix that by cooking is some with out the lid on.  The flavors were ok, and I would be willing to try it with the proper sausage, but it didn't wow me, but with merguez it might. (oh and less water;) Chorizo Tagine with Lentils and Fenugreek 2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee 2 onions chopped 2 garlic cloves chopped 1 pou...

I dove in to my pasta Pinterest board and picked this recipe. I have seen several cook the pasta and sauce all together and have been leery of them, but I figured what the heck, go for it. I think the idea is sound, cooking the pasta in flavorful water makes total sense, but I was worried the pasta wouldn't cook correctly.  I worried for nothing with this dish. It was amazing, and it was super fast, easy and one pot & one cutting board to clean up.  Next time, I think I will leave out the cheese.  I didn't notice it and it seemed to just clump up on utensils and plates.  Not bad, just why throw it in there if you don't need it.  This is going to be one of my favorites!  Not only for it's taste, but easy and fast cooking.  It has a bit of heat, so if you are totally against that, you could use just the plain tomatoes, and I think that would be fine too.  I think that this recipe is a great base to create other recipes on.  Same techni...

The boy took the pictures.  Not great :) For throwback Thursday, I chose a meal I didn't really want again as I was going to be out.  My husband loved this the first time we had it, and while I enjoyed the flavor, it was my issues with raw chicken, again, that prevented me from being able to enjoy it.  Even the boy likes it despite the presence of those evil mushrooms ;). Chicken In Tarragon-Mustard Cream Sauce 3 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 Lb skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-in Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 Lb white mushrooms thinly sliced 1 large shallot minced 3/4 Cup dry white wine 1 1/4 Cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth 1/2 Cup heavy cream 2 Tbl grainy mustard 2 Tbl chopped tarragon Buttered noodles for serving 1. In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the skillet in a single layer.    Cook over high heat, turning once, until browned bu...

I don't know what struck me.  I personally was never the hugest fan of Salisbury Steak, but when my son asked for beef tonight, I saw this on pinterest and felt the strong urge to play 50's housewife and make a good ole fashioned meat and potatoes dinner.  Perhaps it was that my darling husband had been away for a few days on business, perhaps it was the slight cooling in the air that had me thinking of family and the holidays.  Whatever the reason, we were having a bit of a retro dinner.  I was looking at the ingredients a bit askance, but most troubling for me, the bouillon.  I was worried it would be too salty and my cube didn't crumble in to fine powder.  I envisioned bites with little, but powerful bouillon bombs in them.  It turned out great!  My son adored it.  My only complaint, even cooking it a bit longer, the gravy was pretty thin.  I was afraid longer cooking would make it too salty.  Next time, I will add a bit mo...

I made these years ago. I'm talking 10-12 years ago. I remembered loving them then.  While, I have grown, food wise, since then, I did still really like them.  They are, like all crab cakes, dependent on the quality of crab you are using. I totally splurged and spent $20+ on the meat.  That keeps this from being a regular night dinner. I needed 3 of the containers the crab came in, so I got 2 fancy jumbo lump and one more reasonably priced one. I think that worked well. We had all the nice lump crab that makes for a great crab cake, but also some of the smaller pieces to help fill in the cracks and assist the mayo/egg binder.   I think the crackers make a fine breading for the cakes too.  Oh and yes, the recipe comes from actor Robert Duvall's mom. Mrs. Duvalls Crab Cakes 1/4 Cup mayonnaise 1/4 Cup onion minced 2 eggs lightly beaten 1/2 Tsp Worcestershire sauce 1/2 Tsp dry mustard 1/4 Tsp salt 1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper 1 Lb lump crabmeat picked over...

Well it's Wednesday and I realize I have forgotten all about my Meatless Monday recipe. I just kind of threw things together and as it was a few days ago, I can't be 100% sure of my measurements.  Also, I cooked it like pizza, and I think a lower temp with a longer cooking time would have resulted in a better end product.  Oh yeah, I'm not the one usually rolling out the dough, and as you can see from the pictures of it whole, it's pretty rustic looking;).  All that means is no real recipe tonight, just a bit of a recommendation.  The recommendation: diced roasted eggplant is a nice addition to a calzone or pizza for your meatless Mondays.  Also I like to have this as kind of a dinner diary, so I'm doing a post.  Sorry for slacking :D

I was super excited to have callaloo in this weeks FPP basket. I have seen it going out in the local basket, but it hasn't been in my basket on my weeks. Callaloo is a green. It can be one of several greens used to make a dish of the same name. (and I have no idea which particular one I got.  It can be used like spinach. However, as it is my first time with it, I wanted to use it in one of its traditional forms. What could fit the bill better the aforementioned soup named for the green?  Now, I was a little worried the boy wouldn't adore dinner. (He isn't a fan of greens in general and as a growing tween, he needed some extra calories!). Great call on my part. He really didn't care much for the soup. My husband and I (even the baby girl) really liked the soup. It was a bit spicy by itself, but served with the recommended rice mixed in to the soup it was perfect. (In fact we even added some hot sauce:).   It was a full meal even without the shrimp.  It ...

I have been curious about tofu scrambles and finally got the wherewithal to make one for dinner.  I thought this one would be the most kid friendly.  It was with one small exception: the "bacon".  It was not only the worst part of the meal, it was just plain gross.  It would have been delicious with out it.  I don't know if it is that bacon is so adored, iconic, inherently unhealthy, or what, but when you mess with it, it isn't good.  It looked so bizarrely unnatural too.  So, next time, no "bacon" in this dish.  Everything else was great.  I am looking forward to adding tofu scrambles to our meals.  I think I would really like it in a breakfast burritos with lots of salsa and some refried beans.  While I don't think it altered the flavor too much, the turmeric made the tofu look a lot like proper eggs. Vegetarian "Bacon And Eggs" Tofu Scramble Recipe 2 Tbl olive oil 3 - 4 strips vegetarian mock bacon 3 Clove garlic minced ...

My son choose (and photographed) tonight's throwback meal.  He loves these latkes.  I was at a benefit at the Ormond Wine Co for breast cancer research. They made chicken fingers to go with it.  So, just a short post today.  Mostly for my personal information and to share what we loved so much we had to have again.  Potato Latkes Our Note: double everything but the egg, use  only 4 of them.  otherwise it is too soggy. 2 Cup potatoes Peeled And Shredded (4 cups) 1 Tbl onion Grated (2 Tbsp) 3 eggs beaten (4) 2 Tbl flour (4 tbsp.) 1 1/2 Tsp Salt (3 tsp) 1/2 Cup oil for frying 1.Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible. J2.In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together. 3.In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch t...

We took the girl to Sesame Street live tonight, so I baked cookies to have a recipe in lieu of dinner.  While these tasted good, I am calling it a Pinterest fail.  Notice how they caved in on top?  They are also too big and rich to eat a whole cookie without feeling like you made a big mistake.  (ok my son disagrees because he ate 2!)  So while I am not advocating against the recipe or the idea of stuffed cookies, I don't feel that these were a total success.  They don't really come out of the muffin cup in one piece and you really should eat these with a fork. I am not a baker and I am fully willing to accept that it was all my fault.  In more skilled baking hands, perhaps these will come out as cookies instead of these molten cakes I achieved.  Still, it was a really tasty mess!  Ok I am being a perfectionist and feel like I messed up so I am complaining.  They tasted amazing and who cares how they looked! De...

I got this recipe from a Nigella Lawson interview in NPR. It wasn't the one I heard her taking about when I set out to find the recipe, but I added it to the to try file anyways. So, when my boy asked for steak for dinner, I picked this one.  I liked the sauce more than expected to but it was a bit like A-1 and I'm not a fan of that type of sauce in my steak.  I would eat this sauce over the bottled processed kind, but I prefer a good compound butter over a BBQ type sauce.  I cooked the steaks the way I always do, under the broiler, but I did add the garlic oil she recommended.  I made that by smashing a clove of garlic and putting it in, oh lets say... 1/4 cup of olive oil and set it on the top of the stove where some of the heat from the oven would gently warm it while I prepped the sauce. Date Steak   2 Tbl dark brown sugar 2 Tbl red wine vinegar 1 Tbl Dijon mustard 1 Tbl soy sauce 1 Tbl red currant jelly 2 Tsp chopped fresh gingerroot 1 Tbl ...