Spicy Stir-fried Chicken with Fresh Vegetables

Adapted from A Spoonful of Ginger, by Marie Simonds

To make this recipe is to take a mini-course on Asian stir-frying.  The marinade, seasonings and sauce are so typical and use many Asian pantry staples.  You can play with all elements of this recipe and come up with endless combinations of vegetables and seasonings.   Read more

Steak au Poivre

I spent a few years looking for a great recipe for Steak au Poivre.  It is my husband’s very favorite dish, and is sort of the quintessential man-food.  This dish is great as special weeknight fare because it is so easy, but is also sophisticated enough for a dinner party for up to eight (You can only cook 2 steaks at a time in a pan, so it would be very hard to scale beyond eight and still enjoy your guests). Read more

Sweet Black Pepper Fish

Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light

A very simple, quick, crazy-good fish dish, this is a very simple dish and a great example of a simmer.  Fish just can’t be cooked very long before it falls apart, but cooking it in a flavorful liquid gives a mild white fish like halibut so much amazing flavor.   Read more

Veal Scallops with Lemon and Capers

Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook, Edited by Ruth Reichl

This is a family staple.  It involves almost no prep and cooks in no time.  It is totally elegant in appearance and taste.  My kids actually jump up and down when they find out this is for dinner.   Read more

Cranberry-sauced Chicken with Parsnips and Orange

Adapted from In a Vermont Kitchen by Amy Lyon and Lynne Andreen

I picked up an author-signed copy of In a Vermont Kitchen in a discount bin at a resort in Vermont about 10 years ago.  I had just developed an interest in the idea of cooking and thought the recipes sounded pretty good.  Because I was a culinary idiot at that time, most of the books I bought back then I have since discarded- figuring out that the recipes in them were not so great. This is one of the few cookbooks from that era that has survived in my cookbook library. Read more

Dean & Deluca Roast Chicken

Adapted from The Dean and Deluca Cookbook by David Rosengarten

I’ve been making this dish for almost 10 years now- way before I was an experienced cook.  It is one of very few recipes I make routinely.  The meat is incredibly juicy and full of the flavors of the spices.  The sauce is so simple and beautiful. Read more

Elemental Marinara

I love the easy quality of this sauce.  It is simple to make and pairs with everything.  Because I haven’t added any really assertive flavors, I always have the option of adding onion or roasted garlic or mushrooms or olives later.  I make this in big batches and freeze it in two and three cup portions in vacuum-sealed bags. Read more

Kaddo Bourani

There’s a fantastic Afghan restaurant called Helmand’s with outlets in both Baltimore and San Francisco, fortunately for me.  While I’m sure there are other delicious items on the menu, everyone I know insists on ordering the sweet pumpkin with meat and yogurt sauces called Kaddo Bourani.  It’s simple to make, and surprisingly delicious given its few ingredients. Read more

Acorn Squash Filled with Mushroom Orzo

I developed a bit of a collection of acorn squash varieties as a consequence of getting lots of them in my winter CSA boxes.  They were so pretty in their oranges, greens, yellows and even speckles that I was enjoying them too much as kitchen ornamentation.   Read more

Babootie

As best I can remember, Babootie was the first dish Kyle ever made for me.  That is just one of the many reasons why Babootie is so near and dear to my heart.  It is too fun to say the word and use it as a double entendre.  Babootie is absurdly easy to make and freezes beautifully.  The kids also love it. Read more

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