A personal kitchen diary. I try new recipes and make notes on what works and what doesn't. Sometimes I can things, and sometimes I dry herbs. This is the story of my kitchen.
Pasta e Fagioli Soup 1 lb ground beef 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 medium yellow onion 2 carrots, peeled and diced 2 stalks celery, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 1/2 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried oregano 3/4 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp fennel …
Let’s get started. Just don’t call it a Cuban Black Bean soup. The ingredient list is short 1 lb dry black beans 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced 1 green bell pepper, finely diced 3 cloves garlic, minced ham hocks 1/2 cup olive oil 2 …
1 1b boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 3 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1 tsp kosher salt
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 red onions, thinly sliced
1 8 oz package sliced white button mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
Parsley to garnish
Cooked rice to serve (or pasta, or bread)
Whisk together the oil, lemon juice, honey, and salt.
Season the chicken well with salt and pepper, and add to the bowl, stirring to coat well. Set aside while cooking the onions.
2 red onions, peeled and sliced. It should be 4 cups.
Heat a dry cast iron skillet over medium high heat for 2 minutes until very hot and add the onions in a single layer. Season with salt, and cook undisturbed for 1 minute, stir, season, cook for another minute, stir, cook another minute, stir, cook for 1 minute more.
It’s now been cooking for a total of 4 minutes.
Add 1 8 oz package sliced white button (or other) mushrooms to the skillet and season with salt, then stir to combine. Let cook mostly undisturbed, stirring every minute or so for 4-5 minutes. Mushrooms should start to shrink and brown.
Add 3 tablespoons olive oil and cook and stir until the onions brown. Taste the onions. Mine were particularly sharp, so I added 1 tsp of sugar to aid the caramelization. Lower the heat to medium and push the mixture to the sides of the skillet.
Add the chicken to the center and let cook undisturbed for 5 minutes.
Stir the chicken, mushrooms and onions together and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check the chicken with a meat thermometer.
We liked ours over rice with a little bit of parsley for garnish, but we would also probably like with the original recipe’s suggestion of pasta or bread as well.
Nat’s What I Reckon Honey Mustard Chicken 8 medium or 6 large skin-on boneless chicken thighs (works with boneless, skinless as well) salt to taste 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil 2 Tablespoons butter 1 onion, peeled and sliced 1 small bunch parsley, stems and leaves …
Shrimp Tacos Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet with a neutral vegetable oil In a large mixing bowl, mix together (this is for a mild spice mix—ramp up the spice to your taste if you like) 1 tsp mild chili …
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1 package frozen corn, microwaved, drained and rinsed (if in season, 4 cobs corn, cut of the cob)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 handful cilantro, finely chopped
diced cucumber
Dressing:
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Shake together in a glass jar
Toss together with the vegetables and chill in advance if possible.
The recipe says that you could put these into the freezer before the egg wash and before baking and easily take them out, give them the egg wash, and bake as needed. Sausage Rolls You will need 2 1/2 sheets of Puff Pastry. I used …
The result was so good that now I have to write it down! If I had planned this dish I might have used upgraded items like ricotta or my own marinara sauce, but either way, this tasted delicious. First I took out a package of …
Seasoning Mix
1 Tablespoon each Kosher salt and cornstarch
2 teaspoons Smokey paprika
1 teaspoon each:
sugar
garlic powder
onion powder
cumin
white pepper (black pepper is fine)
oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
What you need:
Flat Iron Steak (skirt steak is fine as well—a pound or so, basically you want something not more than an inch thick)
2 bell peppers (I prefer 1 red and 1 orange) sliced in thin strips
1 sweet onion (I prefer red onion, a Vidalia or other sweet onion is fine too) sliced in vertical thin slices
Olive Oil
Coarse salt to season to taste
Tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, Pico de gallo, cilantro, whatever you want to serve with your fajitas.
Make It
Rub the flat iron steaks with half the seasoning, and put the other half in a jar and set aside for next time. Let the steaks rest at room temp for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 420 Fahrenheit.
Place the veggies on a sheet pan and move to the outside, leaving a spot in the center for the steak and place the steaks in the center.
25 minutes should do it, stirring the veggies about halfway through. You might want to check the meat a little earlier and take it out and while it is resting, let the vegetables cook just a little longer.
Salmon Croquettes 1 small potato (yield 3/4 cup mashed) Appx 8 oz salmon filet or 16 oz can salmon 1/4 Cup butter 2 Tablespoons minced green onions 1/3 Cup flour 1 Cup milk 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp garlic powder Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning to …