'Clear the Fridge' Fried Rice

Fried rice. For me, it serves a few purposes. It's my Asian comfort food. It serves as a way for me to use up left over roasted meats and small amounts of fresh vegetables that need using up. It makes a big batch that makes eating easy when I have other projects that are going to butt in on my cooking time. It goes together quickly when I really don't feel like doing a lot of cooking for dinner. I figure it's all in there - meat, veg, carbs, spices. What else do you need, I ask ? Enough said.

This batch used up that duck from my previous post, some bacon that needed to be used up, the last of a bag of carrots that needed to be used, and scallions that I always buy and then strand in the veggie drawer. It was delicious when I put it all together. Easy dinner with a glass of wine. 

Super Easy Roasted Duck

Our belated New Years Day dinner ... we had so many leftovers from Christmas week and News Years Eve that we could NOT in good conscience cook another major meal. That being said, I couldn't wait to try this really easy recipe for roasted duck. My plans are to have slices of the breast with our roasted potatoes and green beans with almonds for dinner this evening and THEN pull the rest of the meat from the carcass and make stir fried rice with duck and bacon at the beginning of the week.

Stormy Day Dinner

It's all about a warm pot of baked beans today, but these aren't the usual New England style baked beans. These have a bit of a spicy twist. Perfect with a pan of cheesy jalapeño cornbread. This dinner took the chill out of our first ice and sleet storm of the season.

NYT's Blonde Puttanesca

Thanksgiving week calls for easy meals that allow time for the baking and shopping and food storage that is required to put on a huge feast. That being said, we are traveling for the Thanksgiving weekend and are loath to have much in the fridge when we take off for a few days. Soooo ...

Make This Dish ! - Chicken Thighs with Carrots, Fennel, and Orange Sauce

There is so much going on in this dish. I absolutely loved it. Beautiful pearl couscous is a backdrop to a sauce that is bursting with broth and orange juice enhanced by cumin and paprika. Nicely crisped chicken thighs are gently braised in this sauce with sliced carrots and fennel, black olives, and golden sultana raisins. There's sweetness, saltiness, the nasal herb fragrance and flavour of the fennel, and those spices ... oh, yeah and chicken and carrots! The final touch is slivered scallion greens and fennel fronds. The colors are gorgeous, the textures are a beautiful blend. This is a stellar dish.

Crack Sauce - The Ultimate Dipping Sauce for Grill Season

This sauce has become a favorite in our family. It's spicy hot while being cool in temperature. When the beer can chickens come off the grill, or a smoked turkey comes out of the smoker, or a spicy walnut encrusted pork tenderloin comes out of the oven, a bowl of this dipping sauce sits ready. It's so delicious that it's addictive, hence the name. It's perfect for dragging bites through before gobbling!

I'm sure it has another name, but what can I say? To our family, it's crack sauce. It keeps in the fridge for about a week. Then, it tends to separate. I've shaken it back up and marveled that the pepper spiciness gets stronger. Wahoo!

Enjoy!

Crack Sauce

Makes about two cups of dipping sauce. 

Ingredients:

3 jalapēnos, stemmed, small chop

4 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 generous cup cilantro leaves and stems

1/4 c. sour cream

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/3 c. fresh lime juice 

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Place the ingredients in a blender and whiz to a smooth green flecked sauce.

NOTES: Perfect dipping sauce for roasted turkey, chicken, grilled fish, or roasted pork tenderloin. Excellent on sandwiches instead of plain mayo. If you want less spicy heat, remove some of the veins and seeds from the jalapēno peppers. 

Bribery Pasta by Michael Anthony

Dinner the other evening was green from start to finish, and to boot, gluten free. Now, you don't have to go that route if you love your traditional semolina pastas. I have been trying to limit my glutens a bit, as I have a skin condition that seems irritated by too many glutens (as well as other baddies) in my diet. SO! I tried out Barilla Pasta's chick pea pasta. I have to say that we loved its nutty flavour. I cooked it al dente so it never got mushy, which can happen real fast with other GF pasta products.

Anyway, the real star of this dish is all the fresh green veg in the slice and dice. Just look! Broccoli, Swiss chard, green onions and their slivered green tops, plus onions and garlic. There is far more veg in this dish than there is pasta.

Summertime Shakshuka - Conquering the Tomato Patch !

Sooo. Last evening, I kiddingly posted to my FB account the alarm, "Tomatoes ! They're coming out of the woodwork ! Help !!!"  After a day of canning three quarts of salsa, there were still some ripe tomatoes to be used.