Recipe Variation: Smoked Beer Can Chicken

My love of beer can chicken is well-known. I actually found a way to make it even better! and it makes up for the fact that I don’t have a characoal grill.
I bought a “smoke box” some time ago and finally tried it out on this recipe. Basically, you soak chips (mine were hickory) for [...]

Recipe Variation: Eggplant Risotto

Another fun risotto variation, this one includes:
Roasted eggplant
edamame
balsamic vinegar
I roasted the eggplant ahead of time, and stirred in the ingredients near the end of the cooking process.

Recipe Variation: Grilled Fish Tacos

I made fish tacos the other day. I made a marinade very similar to my old standby recipe. I added some chili powder, used cilantro as a topping rather than in the marinade, used sauteed poblanos, and used shredded cabbage and queso fresco as a garnish. But the biggest difference was I grilled the fish [...]

Summer Cooking Projects

Trying to think of some fun summer cooking projects. Here’s what I’ve brainstormed so far as possibilities (I’ve already done hummus, pesto and salsa in the past couple weeks):
mustard
sourdough bread
pickles
smoked salmon
Baba ghanoush
preserved lemons
flavored syrups
rotisserie chicken on the grill
minestrone
aioli
tortillas
butter
tomatillo salsa
homemade potato chips
fresh pasta
summer rolls
ketchup
mozzarella
infused olive oils
how to can
pierogis
ginger beer
sorbet
demi glace
bacon
marinated olives
crackers
Have experience with any of these? [...]

Fun With Egg Whites

On Weight Watchers, two egg whites=zero points. Therefore, I’ve been doing a little egg white experimentation this week. Also helpful=some of John’s new homemade ice cream recipes call for yolks, not whites, so I have a source of leftovers to use up.
Yesterday’s breakfast (scrambled):
two egg whites, half a red pepper, 1 tsp parmesan cheese, scallions, [...]

Recipe Variation: Pesto Chicken Parm

Yeah, we’re clearly trying to use up a lot of pesto lately.
John made chicken parm last night (though a less elaborate version than this) before ballroom dance class. Not sure why, but he decided to add a layer of pesto between the chicken and the breadcrumb mixture. The result? Delicious, but probably ultimately unnecessary.

Ingredient Fixation: Mustard Greens

Really digging mustard greens right now. They’re becoming my go-to “throw into everything” fall vegetable. The best is soups – whether it’s a homemade concoction, ramen noodles, Lipton Chicken Noodle, they just seem to provide the perfect burst of nutrition and flavor. Thinking about making a permanent swap in my sausage bean soup recipe, losing [...]

Recipe Variation: Pesto Garlic Bread

In a weird turn of events, I didn’t have any garlic in the house last night. John was planning to make garlic bread, so he decided pesto would be an appropriate substitute. Mix with butter in lieu of the compound butter process in John’s take on the ATK recipe. Good stuff!

Recipe Variation: Pollo Pimenton

We went to Penzey’s because I was out of pimenton today; I was also low on Hungarian paprika. This had us thinking of paprikash, and me wondering how much pimenton would change the dish. The result is noticable – more smokey, darker. But it still tastes enough like classic paprikash to satisfy a craving. I [...]

The Economics of Roast Chicken

Thanks to my day job, I feel like I spend all my time talking about the current economy’s impact on food. As much as I like to leave such things at the office, I have to say, for those cooks on a budget, does it get better than roast chicken?
The chicken I made last night [...]