Veal Cakes w/ Silky Eggplant

Got this recipe from the last issue of Gourmet (RIP). Really good, satisfying and surprisingly quick! Pictured here with a side of bok choy.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Loved the sauce for this dish (based on Emeril’s recipe). The shrimp I bought from the store, however, were not very good, bringing down the meal a bit. I ate the leftovers sans shrimp.

WW Slow Cooker Paprikash

This recipe tasted good and was convenient, but it won’t be replacing John’s paprikash recipe anytime soon.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi w/ fried sage and gorgonzola cream sauce

This was quite a project, but it ended up being a delicious combination. I relied chiefly on these two recipes for inspiration.

Recipe Variation: Pumpkin Chili

I was kind of at a loss of what to do with my roasted pumpkin left over from carving night, once Halloween rolled around. Chili was already on the menu for the night, so I thought throwing in some pumpkin might be fun.
I don’t know if it was the pumpkin, the meat used, or the [...]

Beef Bourguignon

I was hoping to make something fall-like for our pumpkin carving night earlier this week. I didn’t end up doing a pumpkin dish (though there are plenty to come), but to me, any kind of simmering stew works for fall.
I stuck fairly closely to the Barefoot Contessa recipe for this dish.

Smothered Lamb Chops

Based this off a Food & Wine recipe for smothered chicken legs. The lamb adds its own flavor to the (delicious) sauce, though I bet chicken would be a more neutral platform for it. This was great served over some leftover cheesy polenta.

Flatbreads with goat cheese, almond sauce, arugula and caramelized shallots

I was attempting to recreate an appetizer I had at PS7’s, which boasts one of my favorite DC happy hours. They have a flatbread they call “nutty goat”. Two problems with my version: 1) The flatbread base I used was kind of crappy B) Found out afterwards they used drunken goat, which is a very [...]

Alton’s Gumbo

Gumbo – talk about satisfying. This recipe, I will say, takes forver, but it’s really not all that labor intensive if you think about it.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Got this recipe off of We Love DC, from a feature where they worked with the folks over at WestEnd bistro.
As a note, I recommend with the sauce, chilling and skimming off the fat if you have the luxury of time. Mine was a bit greasy.